
Class R fcllM 



Book 



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Imaginary Playmates 



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Other Mental Phenomena 
of Children 




NATHAN A. HARVEY 

STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 
YPS1LANTI. MICHIGAN 



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Imaginary Playmates 



and 



Other Mental Phenomena 
of Children 




NATHAN A. HARVEY 

STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 
YPSILANT1, MICHIGAN 






Copyright 1918 
NATHAN A. HARVEY 



©CIA50721 



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10 



X 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter I. — Imaginary Playmates 7 

Chapter II. — Projected Images 25 

Chapter III. — Images in Reading 34 

Chapter IV. — Hallucinations 40 

Chapter V. — Number Forms 49 

Chapter VI. — Mental Calendars and Alphabet Forms 60 

Chapter VII. — Chromoesthesia 72 

Chapter VIII. — Synesthesia 80 

Chapter IX. — Original Languages of Children 85 

Chapter X. — Double Personality 92 

Chapter XL — Paramnesia 100 

Chapter XII. — Dreams 107 

Chapter XIII. — Turned Around; or, Illusions of Orien- 
tation 120 



PREFACE 



The material for the discussion of the topics in the follow- 
ing pages has been drawn from individual reports and personal 
interviews with more than five hundred different persons 
whose experiences are recorded. I have the fullest confidence 
in the accuracy of the reports and the sincerity with which 
they were made. I knew each person intimately, and a per- 
sonal interview permits a kind of cross questioning and com- 
parison with the reports of others which it is impossible to 
employ in a written questionnaire. The reports upon which 
the following chapters are based are absolutely truthful, and 
as accurate as the circumstances will permit. 

This book has developed out of a series of lessons on Indi- 
vidual Differences. In general, our psychology as a part of 
the professional preparation for teaching, has failed to function 
to the degree that it should. The reason for this partial failure 
seems to be that we have been teaching only one phase of psy- 
chology. The laws of psychology which we have been teaching, 
are statements of the resemblances between the mental pro- 
cesses of all persons. But teachers must deal with individuals, 
and individuals manifest differences as well as resemblances. 
It is as much a necessity for professional preparation to study 
individual differences as it is to study general resemblances. 

Individual differences are of two kinds; quantitative and 
qualitative. The quantitative differences are studied by a 
process of mental measurement. They exist in processes that 
are common to all individuals, but manifested in different de- 
grees. An example of this kind of difference is seen in reac- 
tion time, which differs widely in different persons. 

But there are qualitative differences as well as quantita* 
tive. Some persons have mental experiences that are alto- 
gether wanting in others. The topics treated in this book 
represent this kind of individual differences. 

The topics selected for treatment are of different degrees 
of familiarity to psychologists. Some of them have already 
been very thoroughly treated, but others, such as Imaginary 
Playmates, Images in Reading, Paramnesia, Illusions of Orien- 
tation, and Original Languages, have been but slightly in- 
vestigated. All of these topics are of special interest to all 




persons, and constitute the most attractive feature of psychol- 
ogy to a very large number of students. They are to psychol- 
ogy classes, what electricity is to a boy beginning to study 
physics. 

The bibliographies are not intended to represent anything 
like a full list of publications upon the subject, but merely to 
indicate the kind and amount of reading that may be expected 
to be done in connection with each chapter. 

Ypsilanti, Michigan, September 12, 1918. 



CHAPTER I 

IMAGINARY PLAYMATES. 

The soul of a child embraces elements that are incompre- 
hensible to the grown up man. It contains chambers into 
which the light of mature intellect can with difficulty pene- 
trate. Its experiences seldom receive their proper appreciation, 
and the child and the parent are of necessity, comparative 
strangers. To know the child, we need to know what his child- 
ish experiences are, and we must inquire of the child what 
those experiences may be. 

The experiences of children differ widely from each other. 
The experience of one child is no criterion by which to judge 
of the experiences of another. Children differ as wide as the 
poles in the experiences which they encounter. Only by a col- 
lection of many divergent experiences of different children are 
we able to comprehend what the actions of any particular child 
may mean. 

Some children have playmates that are wholly imaginary, 
but which are as vivid and real to them as living playmates 
would be. These playmates are not merely vivid ideas, or 
imaginings, but actual visual and auditory projections. They 
can be seen and heard as vividly as if they are living children. 
Some typical cases will best show the characteristics of these 
imaginary playmates. 

Miss Ruby C. was an only child. She had two imaginary 
playmates whom she knew by the names of Katie Fendus and 
Nellie Brosus. These playmates were two little girls of about 
her own age, who were as vivid and distinct to her as two liv- 
ing children would be. She could see them very plainly, and 
could hear the tones of their voices when they were talking. 
She describes clearly how they were dressed, and how they 
wore their hair. Sometimes the three of them would play to- 
gether, and sometimes she would sit still and watch them play. 
The three of them sometimes played school, and she remem- 
bers that they used to tell her how to spell words. One time 
they told her to spell meat, meqfeg, which was not correct. 

Miss C. remembers seeing these two playmates as early as 
she can remember anything. Certainly they appeared to her 
by the time she was three years old. She does not remember 



8 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

the circumstances of their first appearance, nor how they re- 
ceived their names. Neither does she know the occasion for 
their disappearance, which occurred when she was about eight. 
She often talked with her mother about the doings of Nellie 
and Katie. In fact, it was rather a common subject of conver- 
sation with her. 

Another case will emphasize the same features of this 
typical example. Miss Bessie C. reports that she had an imag- 
inary playmate whom she called Dorothy. Dorothy began to 
appear to her when she was about seven or eight years of age, 
and continued until she was about twelve. Dorothy was a little 
girl of just about her own age. She could see Dorothy as clear- 
ly as she could see a living child, and could hear the tones of 
her voice when she talked. Dorothy went to school with her, 
and in fact, the two girls were together nearly all the time. 
She and Dorothy played with their dolls, and would have tea 
parties together. She always insisted upon an extra place at 
the table for Dorothy, with plate and knife, and would become 
indignant at her mother, who could not understand who Dor- 
othy was, and the necessity for the extra equipment. At 
Christmas time, Bessie always hung up an extra stocking for 
Dorothy. She never quarreled with Dorothy, but she does not 
remember that Dorothy ever told her anything which she did 
not already know. 

These two cases manifest the characteristics of at least 
half of all the reports of imaginary playmates. 

1. Vividness. Nearly always they are described as being as 
vivid as a living child would be. 

2. Both visual and auditory. They can be both seen and 
heard. 

3. They are children of about the same age as the child 
who experiences them. 

4. They are really playmates, whose society is enjoyed by 
the one who experiences them. 

5. They are known by some name similar to that of other 
children. 

6. They begin to appear early in the life of the child. 
Usually, they are seen by the time the child begins to remem- 
ber anything, and the manner of their beginning is indefinite 
and not known. 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 9 

7. They disappear gradually, without attracting atten- 
tion, either about the age of eight, or about the age of twelve. 

8. The occasion for their disappearance is seldom recog- 
nized. 

9. Their appearance is generally described, and often 
made the subject of conversation with parents, or with other 
children. 

10. They are not hallucinatory. The child recognizes 
that they differ from real, living, objective children. 

While these are the points in which a very large number 
of imaginary playmates will agree, there is not a single one of 
them in which great variations do not occur. Let us examine 
each characteristic separately. 

1. Vividness. It is difficult to convey to a person who 
has not had a similar experience, just what is meant by the 
vividness of an imaginary playmate. Many persons can re- 
member how an object looked, who have no capacity for visual- 
izing it, projecting it, or re-seeing it. The difference between 
an idea of a thing and a percept of a thing consists principally 
in the difference in intensity of the nervous impulse that ac- 
companies the two processes. For the moment, we may be sat- 
isfied with the statement that the imaginary playmates are as 
vivid as living children would be, and that there is no percep- 
tible difference in their appearance. 

2. They are both visual and auditory. They are both seen 
and heard. While this is the general rule, it is not universal. 
Miss Christine M. describes a playmate, who was a little girl 
always dressed in white, stiffly starched, and with a short skirt, 
whom she could see very clearly. The appearance was visual 
only, and she never heard the playmate talk. Similarly, Mr. 
Rollin R. reports that for several years he had an imaginary 
playmate, who was a little Indian boy of about his own age, 
whom he followed frequently through the woods, and from 
whom he learned many things in wood craft, but whose voice 
he never heard, and with whom he never talked. 

Less common is the experience of an imaginary playmate 
that is exclusively auditory. Miss Lucille B., however, reports 
that she had a toy telephone, by means of which she regularly 
visited with an imaginary playmate, whose voice she could dis- 
tinguish clearly and knew it well, but whom she never saw. 



10 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Every day she would report to her playmate over the telephone 
that happenings of her day at school, and would receive similar 
reports from her playmate at the other end of the line. 

Even more emphatic is the case of Miss Lurah M, who with 
her two sisters, had two imaginary playmates whom they knew 
by the names of Banter and Dedy. Banter and Dedy were 
two boys who lived in the upper story of an old granary, the 
lower floor of which constituted the regular playhouse of the 
three girls. Miss M. never saw the boys, but she talked freely 
with them and they talked freely to her. She knew intimately 
the sounds of their voices, and they talked with her and with 
her sisters a great deal. The boys were great travelers, and 
would often tell the girls about the places they had visited. 
The girls often played keeping house, and would have tea 
parties and make mud pies. These mud pies they regularly 
handed up to the boys in the loft, asking their opinion of the 
excellence of the pies. 

3. In more than half of the cases, the playmates are 
children of approximately the same age as those to whom they 
appear. The variations from this rule are interesting and very 
funny. In some cases, instead of being children, the playmates 
are grown up men and women. Miss Fay P. had three play- 
mates; one of them was a tall dark man whom she knew as 
Patty. She did not like Patty, and was rather afraid of him, 
and avoided him whenever she could. A second was a tall man 
with a high hat whom she knew as Dr. Cady, and whom she 
liked greatly. A third was a negro woman who always wore a 
red bandanna handkerchief around her head. She liked her 
very much. These three persons were very commonly with her 
for several years. 

A somewhat similar case is that of Miss Phyllis S., who had 
a playmate whom she called Sister Ogle. Sister Ogle was a 
young lady about "high school age," probably seventeen or 
eighteen years old. She sometimes came to see Phyllis, who 
was six or seven, and on such occasions Phyllis would get out a 
large sachel, which she always referred to as Sister Ogle's 
sachel. In this sachel were many presents that Sister Ogle 
always brought for Phyllis, as well as a wonderfully beautiful 
party dress which Phyllis greatly admired. The presents and 
the dress were wholly imaginary. 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 11 

But the imaginary playmates are not always even persons. 
Miss Wilma G. reports the case of her little brother who has a 
flock of sheep which manifest all the characteristics of imag- 
inary playmates. There are several lambs in the flock, and he 
sometimes carries one lamb under his arm while driving the 
other sheep from one room to another. 

Miss Lottie G. reports that after having visited a county 
fair, at which she was much interested in an exhibit of collie 
dogs, two imaginary collie dogs, which she called Popsie and 
Wopsie, appeared to her and were her constant playmates tor 
two years. 

Miss Bessie S. reports her experience with an imaginary 
playmate who was not a little girl. When she was four or five 
years old, her family lived in a house that had considerable 
ground around it, and which was near a railroad. In one place 
there were several thornapple trees, under one of which was a 
pile of rocks. This particular spot was especially attractive to- 
ner as a place to play. But this particularly attractive place 
was inhabited by a ferocious little dwarf who would rush out 
at her whenever she went to that place to play, and chase her 
home, swinging his arms, clawing at her and shouting. He was 
not so large as she was, and he always wore a funny cap. She 
discovered, however, that she could placate the dwarf, or pre- 
vent his appearance, by carrying to that place a dish contain- 
ing water with a mixture of pepper and salt^ It was a very 
vivid experience, and continued as long as her family lived in 
that place. 

The imaginary playmate is not necessarily a person, nor 
even an animated creature. Miss Marguerite H. lived in a 
town only two blocks from a railroad. Her house had a front 
door that was seldom used, and a side door which was the usual 
means of entrance. Whenever she was going from the front 
around to the side door, she would see a train of cars moving 
along at her side. Whenever she was walking down town, the 
train would accompany her, moving along at her side until it 
came to the railroad track, when it would jump onto the rails 
and continue its journey. She was not in the least afraid of 
the train, and even designated it familiarly by the name of 
John. When her family removed from that town, the train 
never reappeared. 



12 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

4. When we think of playmates, we think of something 
that maintains an enjoyable relation to us. So an imaginary 
playmate may be expected to hold an agreeable relation to the 
child who experiences it. In many cases, however, the imag- 
inary playmate is not enjoyed, nor liked, but sometimes is an 
object of hatred. Thus, Miss Frances B. says that she had a 
whole family of imaginary playmates. The family was named 
Kangaroo, and consisted of a man and his wife, with several 
children. One of the children was especially prominent in the 
experience. This was a girl named Polly, who was a bad girl 
and far from handsome. Polly was often left in the care of 
Frances who hated her, and was quite tyrannical with her. 
She would sometimes shake Polly, and shut her in the closet, 
where she could hear her cry and sob very distinctly. 

Mr. Pearl B. and his real playmate, a boy named Kops, had 
an imaginary playmate whom they knew by the name of Gor- 
don. Gordon was a grown up man with a dark beard and 
backwoods clothes, and quite tall. A favorite sport of the boys 
was to build dams in the stream, and Gordon was always try- 
ing to tear them out. Their entire association with Gordon 
was a fight, or contest. 

Somewhat similar is the experience of Miss Bessie R. who, 
with her sister, had an imaginary playmate whom they called 
Ella. Ella was about eleven years old, had dark eyes and dark 
hair, which she always wore in a single braid down her back. 
Neither of the girls liked Ella. Ella was mean and mischiev- 
ous. She always hurt their dolls, and they would feel distress- 
ed when they saw Ella coming, and would feel relieved when 
she went away. Miss Bessie and her sister still speak of Ella, 
and when their room manifests a very disorderly appearance, 
they remark that it looks as if Ella had been there. 

5. Nearly all the imaginary playmates have names ap- 
plied to them, but in only a few cases is it possible to suggest 
why the particular names are applied. The name is not an es- 
sential attribute to the experience, and in some cases the play- 
mate has no name. Thus Miss Pearl Y. had an imaginary play- 
mate who began to appear to her when she was about four 
years old and continued with her until she was eight. The 
playmate had dark hair which she wore down her back in two 
braids. Miss Y. could see the playmate very clearly and could 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 13 

hear the tones of her voice when she was speaking. The play- 
mate had no name, and Miss Y. has never before had her at- 
tention called to the singularity of the whole experience. 

In a few cases it is possible to suggest the probable origin 
of the name. Blanche B. and her sister had two families of 
imaginary playmates. One family was named Spoopendyke 
and lived on the south porch. The family consisted of a father, 
mother, and several children, one of whom, Sarah, was the one 
with whom the girls were especially acquainted. The other 
family was named Boosenbark, and the member of the family 
in whom the girls were especially interested was Nellie. They 
liked Nellie very much, but Sarah Spoopendyke was not very 
agreeable, and they rather avoided her. The name Spoopen- 
dyke was probably suggested by the fact that Spoopendyke was 
the name of a character around which was built a large and 
long continued series of very humorous stories. Similarly we 
find that Miss Ruth W.'s playmate had the name of McGunty, 
a slightly modified form of the name of the hero of a very 
popular song. 

6. In nearly all cases, the testimony shows that the imag- 
inary playmate began to appear to the child very early. Much 
the larger number of persons having the experience say that 
they have seen the playmate always, or as early as they can 
remember anything. But in some cases, the origin and de- 
velopment of the playmate can be traced. Thus Miss Anna Y. 
says that she had a girl chum who read fairy stories, and ro- 
manced a great deal. She and her chum developed out of the 
fairy stories, an imaginary playmate whom they called the 
Mermaid. She could see the Mermaid very clearly, and could 
hear her talk. She and her chum would both take their dolls 
and go to see the Mermaid, and they both played with her. 

Another case will show the development of the imaginary 
playmate out of make-believe. Miss Lida C. says that she and 
her three sisters had a whole town of imaginary playmates 
who lived in the fence corners around the fields. They had all 
of them named, and would visit with them, and play with them 
by the hour. To her, the children were vivid as living persons 
would be, and she could see them as clearly as she could see 
living persons. In this case, there can be no doubt that the 
playmates were developed out of make-believe. The children 



14 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

said at first "let us play" so and so. Finally, a really vivid 
visual projection occurred. 

Make-believe implies a conscious purpose on the part of the 
one who employs it. In much the greater number of cases, 
there can be no supposition of conscious purpose, and the cause 
for their appearance, and for the particular forms that they 
take is altogether beyond the reach of explanation. 

Another case, which really belongs to a different category, 
will illustrate another aspect of the process by which such ap- 
pearances begin. Miss Hazel G. heard her mother read aloud 
the story of Ann of Green Gables. Later, she read another 
book, Ann of Avon Hall, in which were recorded the deeds of 
the same characters. Ann soon became to her a vivid person- 
ality, as real as a living person would be. She could see Ann 
very clearly, and Ann was regarded as a very dear friend. 
She often consulted Ann about her plans, and Ann was very 
sympathetic with her. 

Similarly, Katherine McL. when she was about six years 
old, together with a girl friend, came to know something about 
the activities of Jesse James. They either read about him, or 
heard some one else read about his exploits. Shortly afterward, 
they became able to see Jesse James. He appeared to them 
rather frequently, sometimes in the capacity of a robber about 
to attack and rob them, and again in the character of a friend 
willing and ready to lend them assistance. She could see Jesse 
James as clearly as if he had been a living person, and she 
could hear him speak. She and her friend often talked about 
him, and they described to each other how he looked, so that 
she believes that the appearance was the same to both. 

7. The disappearance of the playmate is not often attend- 
ed with any noticeable event. The disappearance is gradual 
and does not attract the attention of the child, so that few of 
the persons who report their experiences are able to fix a def- 
inite occasion for their disappearance. However, in a few 
cases the occasion for their disappearance has been noted. 

Miss Alice B. had two imaginary playmates, Doty and 
May. She liked Doty the better, although May was a welcome 
playmate. When they had tea parties, Doty always asked the 
blessing. One day in winter, they were all in the house, and 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 15 

May was sitting in a rocking chair by the fireside, when Miss 
B.'s mother came in and sat down in the rocking chair on May 
and killed her. Miss Alice says that she screamed, and did her 
best to keep her mother from sitting down in the chair, but 
her mother laughed, not seeing anything in the chair, and sat 
down. Miss Alice was terribly distressed, and cried for half a 
day, but May was dead and never reappeared. 

Similarly, Miss Marian C. reports that her little brother had 
an imaginary playmate who was a baby. One day, the little 
brother accidentally killed the baby with a hoe. He was ter- 
ribly distressed over the circumstance, and still grieves (at the 
time of the report) over the occurrence, but the baby has not 
reappeared. 

Sometimes the disappearance is the result of punishment 
or scolding, or reasoning with the child by the parent. In the 
case of Miss Phyllis S. whose imaginary playmate, Sister Ogle, 
is referred to above, Miss Phyllis had a grandmother, who had 
an imaginary playmate whom she called the Mermaid, and in 
whose companionship she took a great deal of satisfaction. 
Some visitors, however, when they discovered that the grand- 
mother was talking to imaginary persons, were very much con- 
cerned, and advised the parents to take measures to stop it 
because they were sure that it was an indication of mental un- 
soundness, or some other terribly disgraceful condition. This 
the parents did, much to the distress of the grandmother, who 
cried long and hard over the disappearance of the Mermaid, 
and the conviction that she was not a real creature. So when 
Phyllis grew into the companionship of Sister Ogle, the grand- 
mother was determined that she should not be caused the same 
kind of distress that had occurred to her in the disappearance 
of the Mermaid. Consequently Phyllis was permitted to enjoy 
the experience with Sister Ogle to her heart's content. 

8. An examination of the accounts of different persons 
who have experienced imaginary playmates indicates that 
most of them disappear principally at two periods. There is a 
tendency in the reports to fix the age at which they disappear 
either at the age of seven or eight, or at the age of eleven or 
twelve. These dates correspond approximately to the period 
of transition from infancy to childhood, or the time of transi- 
tion from childhood to adolescence. These dates may be rough- 



16 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

ly described as the time of the second dentition, or the oncom- 
ing of the adolescent changes. 

Such disappearances are not, however, universal. In the 
case mentioned above, where Miss Bessie R. and her sister had 
an imaginary playmate Ella, Miss Bessie says that she still 
catches occasional glimpses of Ella. 

Miss Mabel B. had two imaginary playmates, whom she 
knew as Fred and his sister. The sister had no other name, 
and was rather insignificant in the experience. Fred was about 
the same age as herself, and grew up, as she grew up herself. 
She often consulted Fred about what was best for her to do, 
and she came to believe that it was a pretty good thing to fol- 
low Fred's advice. She gave several examples of serious con- 
sequences following occasions when she had refused to heed the 
admonitions of Fred. I said, "When did they cease to appear?" 
"Why," Miss Mabel said, "I see them yet. Yesterday, I saw 
Fred's sister looking over your shoulder in the class." 

Similarly, Miss Grace M. reports the case of her brother, 
who is a young man, eighteen years old, and who is very fond 
of hunting. He has an imaginary playmate who has been with 
him ever since he can remember, and who still persists. Her 
brother assures her that whenever he goes to shoot, he looks 
carefully to see that his playmate is not in the way, and in 
danger of getting shot. However, this is unusual, and these 
three cases are about the only ones in the series of 109 that 
have been carefully studied, in which there is a persistence of 
the playmate experience into the adult years. 

9. Most of the cases referred to above, have been com- 
paratively simple. But in some examples, the experience be- 
comes almost bewilderingly complex. Miss Winifred B. when 
a little girl, liked very much to play with paper dolls. It ap- 
pears that her imaginary playmate grew out of this circum- 
stance, and seems to have been developed from make-believe. 
Her imaginary playmate was her husband, and the father of 
her paper dolls. Her husband's name was Samuel, and he was 
decidedly a henpecked husband, for she ordered him around 
unmercifully. She could see Samuel as clearly as she could see 
a living person, and could hear him talk, and knew the tones 
of his voice. When she ceased to play with paper dolls, Samuel 
gradually faded away. 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 17 

Miss Vaida B. had an imaginary playmate whom she called 
Salt Nellie. Salt Nellie was a little girl of just her own age, 
whom she was able to see very clearly. Nellie was sullen in 
appearance, had brown hair, and always wore a rather old, 
faded dress. She and Nellie never played together, and Nellie 
never appeared except when Vaida had been naughty. She 
had the feeling that somehow she had been changed into Nellie 
when she had been naughty. 

In this case, it might appear a reasonable suggestion that 
the appearance of Nellie grew out of a circumstance such as 
the mother's saying to Vaida, for punishment, "You have been 
a bad girl. Stand in front of the looking glass, and see how a 
bad girl looks." 

Another complex case is illustrated by the experience of 
Elsie F. Miss Elsie had an imaginary playmate whom she 
knew as Leah Lynn Jones. Leah was a little girl about as old 
as herself, who lived in the playhouse in the back yard. Leah 
had dark hair and always wore a pink and white checked dress. 
She could see Leah very clearly, and she could also see Leah's 
mother. She and Leah played together a great deal. They 
would play school, and study arithmetic together. She would 
sometimes read aloud to Leah, and she remembers that she 
read Peck's Bad Boy in this way. 

Leah had another playmate, a wholly imaginary girl, 
named Eula. Elsie and Leah frequently quarreled over Eula. 
It appears that Elsie was jealous of Eula, who was Leah's espe- 
cial friend. Sometimes Elsie would quarrel directly with Eula, 
and she never liked her. 

An exceedingly complex case of imaginary playmates is 
the experience of Miss Bertha L. Miss Bertha had several real 
playmates, all of them boys. One boy told her one day, that 
he had proposed marriage to a girl, wholly imaginary, or make- 
believe. Both she and the boy friend from that time began to 
talk about that make-believe girl, whom they came to know as 
Hazel. Shortly afterward, she began to see Hazel as clearly 
and as vividly as she could see a living child. Soon thereafter, 
an imaginary boy named John began to appear. John was a 
dark complexioned boy. They all played with John, and invited 
him to their tea parties. 

They told another family of real children about John and 



18 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Hazel,, and soon the other children began to see them. John 
subsequently brought with him his imaginary friend, Sam, who 
was a red headed boy, light complexioned, living down near an 
old appletree. The real children and the imaginary children 
played together, and would laugh and shout. They played tag, 
and fox and geese, and the imaginary children would run and 
catch them and be caught by them just as real children would 
be. 

Not very long afterward, two imaginary grown up persons 
were added to the list. These were Mr. and Mrs. Shopey who 
had a large, white, imaginary bulldog. The children, real and 
imaginary, did not like Mr. and Mrs. Shopey, and would tease 
Mrs. Shopey in an exasperating manner, which would incense 
Mr. Shopey who would run after them, and chase them, and 
set his white bulldog on them. 

10. A question would seem natural concerning the places 
in which these imaginary playmates lived. In probably half 
the number of cases, the question does not arise in the minds 
of the children who experience the playmates. The question 
simply does not occur to them. Inquiry concerning their no- 
tion of the playmate's place of habitation produces such an- 
swers as the following: Whenever she went out on the play- 
ground, the playmate came; or, she just thought about the 
playmate, and the playmate appeared. 

But in some cases, the playmate has a definite location. 
Miss Blanche T. had an imaginary playmate whom she knew 
as Giddy. Giddy was a grown up woman who lived in a hollow 
log about a quarter of a mile from her house. When she want- 
ed to talk to Giddy, she would go to Giddy's house and talk 
things over with her. Giddy never came to her house. She 
would sometimes take other persons to Giddy's house, and try 
to get them to talk to Giddy, but generally the other persons 
were but little interested in Giddy. She never saw Giddy, and 
does not know how Giddy looked, for the appearance was al- 
together auditory. 

In the accounts referred to above, we have seen that the 
two imaginary boys, Banter and Dedy, who were the playmates 
of Miss Lurah M., lived in the upper floor of the old granary. 
In Miss Bertha L.'s account, the second imaginary boy, Sam, 
lived down the road under an apple tree. So the playmates of 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 19 

Miss Lida C. were located in the fence corners around the farm. 
The little dwarf of Miss Bessie S. lived in a pile of rocks under 
a thornapple tree. 

Miss Julia S. had an imaginary playmate whom she knew 
as Mary, who would meet her every morning at a certain spot 
and go to school with her. Mary lived somewhere in an in- 
definite place up the road that came into Julia's road at that 
meeting point. In the afternoon, Julia and Mary would come 
from school together until they reached that spot, when Mary 
would turn off to go to her own home, while Julia would con- 
tinue her own road and not see Mary any more until the next 
day. Sometimes on Saturday afternoons, when Julia wished 
to play with Mary, she would go down the road to the regular 
meeting point, when Mary would come to that place and play 
with her. Mary never came to her house, and she never went 
to Mary's house. 

11. The last case is an example of another feature of this 
experience which is perhaps the most important of the entire 
series. In the case of Julia S. she never told anybody else 
about Mary, at all. It was a repressed idea. The present 
writer is the first person to whom she has related her experi- 
ence with Mary. Neither did Rollin R. ever mention to any 
one, his acquaintance with his little Indian. It is in cases of 
this kind that we find the greatest injury done to children by 
parents and teachers. In the case of Mabel B. mentioned 
above, whose playmates, Fred and her sister, still appear to 
her, she talked freely to her parents about them. The circum- 
stance distressed her mother very much, and Mabel says that 
she has often got her ears boxed, and been called crazy, for re- 
porting the sayings and doings of Fred and his sister. So in 
the case of the grandmother of Phyllis S. referred to above, 
the friends were confident that the talking to herself, since 
they knew nothing of the imaginary playmate, the Mermaid, 
was a symptom of insanity, or something else that was very 
bad. Hence it was that a course of action was adopted, which 
brought great distress, if not positive injury to the little girl. 

A really pathetic case appeared in the course of these in- 
vestigations. One day in the class, I had mentioned that the 
next day we should consider the matter of imaginary play- 
mates, and indicated something of the nature of the topic. The 



20 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

next day, as soon as that topic was reached, one of the stu- 
dents, Miss LaP, went out of the room, and returned with her 
mother. At the conclusion of the discussion, Mrs. LaP. came 
up to the teacher with her eyes shining, and an expression on 
her face, that indicated the greatest satisfaction, relief, and ap- 
proval. Then she related her experience. When she was a 
little girl, she had two imaginary playmates whom she knew as 
Jessie and Mollie. They lived in a place near a small creek that 
ran through her father's farm. She would go to see them al- 
most every day, and the visit was something of a ceremony. 
She always dressed up for the occasion, changing her clothes. 
They always greeted her effusively, and they parted with con- 
siderable ceremony, inviting her to come back soon for another 
visit. The appearance of the two imaginary girls was very 
vivid. She could both see and hear them. She had a brother 
and a sister with whom she might have played, but she pre- 
ferred to play with Jessie and Mollie. 

She thinks that the appearances developed out of make- 
believe, but they became as vivid as living children would be. 
Now, after the lapse of forty years, she has a very vivid recol- 
lection of exactly the appearance they presented. She never 
told any one about Jessie and Mollie, until she told her daugh- 
ter the night before. She was rather ashamed of the experi- 
ence, and apprehensive that it indicated mental derangement, 
or something else very bad. She experienced a feeling of the 
greatest relief when she found that they were natural and 
normal phenomena, and her face was perfectly radiant when 
she found that I was interested in her account, and that she 
could talk to me about Jessie and Mollie without being appre- 
hensive that she would have her sanity questioned.. 

It is this repression of an idea for many years that con- 
stitutes the pathetic feature of some cases of imaginary play- 
mates. What would naturally be an enjoyable and helpful as- 
sociation, becomes something of which the child feels ashamed 
and conceals it. The unsympathetic attitude of some parents, 
playmates and teachers, due to ignorance of the nature of this 
childish experience, is responsible for this feature. 

Thus Miss Eva R. had an imaginary playmate whom she 
called Bertha. Bertha seemed to have something of the rela- 
tion of an older sister to her. Her association with Bertha was 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 21 

very helpful, pleasant, and vivid. One time, she told some 
other real playmates about Bertha. They laughed at her. 
From that time Bertha disappeared, and was never seen again, 
much to her own regret. 

Another case that is equally pathetic is that represented 
by Miss Ruth W. Ruth had four sisters older than herself, to 
whom she was the baby. She had an imaginary playmate 
whom she called McGunty. McGunty contrasted strongly with 
herself, having light hair, and being tall, while she herself was 
short and dark. She could see McGunty very clearly, and could 
hear her talk. They played keeping house, and made many 
mud pies. She did not tell her sisters about McGunty, and 
never talked about her. The older sisters commented upon the 
fact that she played much alone, and seemed to have such a 
good time by herself, and would sometimes observe that sne 
laid a second place at her tea table. One day, when she was not 
observing the fact, an older sister came quietly up to where 
she was playing with McGunty, and heard the conversation 
that she and McGunty were carrying on. In great glee, the 
older sister went into the house and described the conversation. 
She was quite ashamed of the fact having become known, and 
McGunty never appeared again. She tried as hard as she 
could to bring McGunty back, and was very lonesome without 
her, but McGunty never reappeared. She had formerly told 
McGunty all her troubles, as soon as they occurred, which was; 
a great relief. She was very unhappy when McGunty went 
away, and regretted it very much, but McGunty's disappear- 
ance was permanent. 

Now, what is the explanation and the significance of these 
experiences of childhood? Are they indications of a diseased 
mind, or are they real objective existences which are discover- 
able to the children who have the experience, while invisible to 
others? There are many persons who will be ready to offer a 
mystical, mythical, spiritualistic explanation of all these ap- 
pearances, and whose belief cannot be shaken. The following 
is a case of imaginary playmate to which the parents of the 
child have given such a mystical explanation. 

Wilma G. is a little girl about five years old. Her twin 
sister, named Winnie, died at about the age of two. Wilma is 
very bright, almost precocious, learned early to read, and is a 



22 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

good speller. She has an imaginary playmate whom she calls 
Winnie. Almost every day she will report to her mother what 
she and Winnie have done. She tells her mother how Winnie is 
dressed, what Winnie says, and describes in detail the circum- 
stances of her activities. 

The parents are confident that Wilma sees the spirit of 
the little dead sister, which is visible to her, but not to other 
persons, in consequence of the close affinity between the 
twins. In consequence of the removal of the earth limitations 
from Winnie, she has progressed more rapidly than other 
children, and is able to teach Wilma, so that she also progresses 
rapidly. No amount of argument could, in all probability, con- 
vince the parents of the truth of any other explanation. 

Of the same general character is the experience of Orla G. 
Orla has no recollection of ever having seen his father, who 
died when Orla was less than three years old. Their table is a 
square table, and was always set for four. When he was about 
six years old, Orla began to pull out one of the chairs from the 
table at meal time, and in reply to a question from his mother, 
said that he pulled it out for his father. Shortly afterward he 
began to see his father. The visual appearances at first were 
faint, but gradually became stronger, until he was able to see 
his father very clearly, and observe him eating. He described 
the appearance of his father in such a way that the mother 
said it was an accurate description. 

The mother was very much distressed over the circum- 
stances, and talked to him about it. When Orla was about 
twelve years old, he decided to discontinue pulling the chair 
from the table, and not very long afterward, the appearances 
of the father ceased. 

It is probable that we have in the phenomena of imaginary 
playmates, an explanation of all the materializing phenomena 
of spiritiualism that are not deliberately fraudulent. The 
spiritualistic and mystical explanation collapses at once when 
we trace the development of many cases of imaginary play- 
mates out of make-believe, and arrange a large number of cases 
in a series that proceed by infinitesimal gradations from those 
that are scarcely to be classed as genuine cases of imaginary 
playmates, to those that furnish spiritualists with their stock 
arguments. 



IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 23 

An imaginary playmate is a visual or auditory idea that 
becomes as vivid as a visual or auditory percept would be. It 
is accompanied by a centrally initiated impulse, that is, one 
which starts in the brain, instead of being accompanied by a 
peripherally initiated impulse, that is, one which starts in the 
eye, or the ear, as a percept would be. The centrally initiated 
impulse that accompanies the experience of the imaginary play- 
mate, traverses the same brain centers that would be traversed 
by the peripherally initiated impulse, if it were a real child, 
or other object that is seen. The principal distinction between 
the idea which is projected as the imaginary playmate, and 
other ideas is found in the unusual strength of the centrally 
initiated impulse which accompanies the process. Children 
generate a great amount of nervous energy, and as a conse- 
quence, their centrally initiated impulses are more likely to 
approximate the strength of the peripherally initiated impulse 
than are the centrally initiated impulses of grown up persons. 

This large amount of nervous energy, and the strong cen- 
trally initiated impulse, is one condition for mental capacity. 
Hence it is that we find nearly all cases of imaginary play- 
mates manifested in children who are distinctly above the 
average capacity for children of their own age. No stupid 
child ever had an imaginary playmate. Instead of the experi- 
ence indicating mental derangement, it is rather an indication 
of unusual mental capacity. 

It will be observed that a very large number of the cases 
of imaginary playmates are reported by those who have been 
only children, or who have been compelled to play much alone. 
But this lonely condition of the child is not necessary for the 
development of an imaginary playmate. In the cases already 
cited, it will be remembered that Mrs. LaP. stated distinctly 
that she had other brothers and sisters with whom she might 
have played, but she preferred to play with Jessie and Mollie. 
Also, in the case of Miss Lurah M., there were several children 
to whom the two boys, Banter and Dedy, appeared in an audi- 
tory manner. And then, the complex case of Miss Bertha L. 
in which several children developed the same group of imagin- 
ary playmates, including Mr. and Mrs. Shopey and their white 
bulldog. All such cases show that while the lonely condition of 
a child may be favorable to the development of an imaginary 



24 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

playmate, it is not an essential condition, nor one of very great 
importance. 

Not every child has an imaginary playmate. Investigation 
shows that about six children out of a hundred have this expe- 
rience. It is possible that the number is somewhat greater 
than this, but that is the largest proportion that any accurate 
counting is able to show. There is always the possibility that 
some persons may have had the experience, and have forgotten 
it, but the number of such cases is likely to be very small. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The references to imaginary playmates are very few in 
number, and none of them treat the phenomena in an adequate 
way. The following represent about the only references that 
are readily available. 

1. Caton — The Invisible Playmate. This is a book that 
gives on pages 15 and 17 an account of a single instance of an 
imaginary playmate, which there is given a mystical setting. 

2. C. H. Cooley — Human Nature and the Social Order. 
Imaginary playmates are referred to on pages 52 and 53. Mr. 
Cooley seems to think that imaginary playmates arise out of 
the developing social nature of the child. He fails to recognize 
that they are vivid, visual appearances, generally originating 
in the period of infancy, before even the first indication of a 
social instinct. 

3. H. L. Brittain — A Study in Imagination. Pedagog- 
ical Seminary, volume 14, p. 137. Imaginary playmates are 
briefly referred to on page 170. 

4. Lillien J. Martin — Ghosts and the Projection of Vis- 
ual Images." American Journal of Psychology, volume 26, p. 
251-257. Accounts of three persons who saw Ghosts. All 
showed by experiment a capacity to project visual images. 
Imaginary playmates are briefly referred to. 

5. James P. Munroe — Self Projection in a Child. Peda- 
gogical Seminary, volume 3, p. 182. A fairly good account of 
an imaginary playmate without any satisfactory recognition of 
the real nature of the phenomena. 

6. F. W. Burnham — Imagination in Children. Peda- 
gogical Seminary, volume 2, p. 204. Imaginary playmates are 
briefly referred to on page 212. 



CHAPTER II 



PROJECTED IMAGES 

In order to understand imaginary playmates, it is neces- 
sary that we should examine some closely related phenomena 
that are concerned in the study of visual images. It was 
Francis Galton, in 1883, who first called our attention in an 
emphatic way to the great differences among individuals in the 
power to visualize, or to remember and to reproduce images of 
things that have once been seen. Since that time, comparative- 
ly little has been done in investigating the differences among 
persons in this respect, and we have advanced in the knowledge 
of this capacity only a little way beyond the point at which 
Galton left it. 

Galton spoke of all kinds of visual recollection, or repro- 
duction, as mental imagery, and described three different de- 
grees; high, medium and low. His method of determining the 
capacity of different individuals was to ask them to image some 
scene, such as their breakfast table, and to describe it, judging 
of the degree of vividness that the image presented. It came 
as a surprise to him that some of his most eminent scientific 
friends could scarcely visualize the object at all, and had great 
difficulty in describing its appearance. He was rather inclined 
to believe that the power to reproduce clearly an object that 
had once been seen was detrimental, rather than advantageous, 
to one who had abstract thinking to do. 

Galton made no distinction between a visual idea and a 
projected image. He included projected images under his high 
degree of visualization, and grouped them with clearly recog- 
nized visual ideas. It will be necessary to understand the dif- 
ference between a percept, a visual idea and a projected image. 
The distinction can be most clearly made by considering tne 
nervous processes that accompany each of these three mental 
processes. 

When we perceive anything visually, a nervous impulse is 
started in the retina by the light reflected from the object seen, 
and this impulse is transmitted through some combination of 
cells in the sight center of the brain. Such an impulse, started 
in a sense organ by force from the outside, is called a peri- 



26 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

pherally initiated impulse. The mental process accompanying 
a combination of such impulses is called a percept. 

If, after having perceived an object, we turn away, or 
close our eyes and try to think of how the object looked, we 
are experiencing the mental process known as a visual idea. A 
nervous impulse is traversing the same combination of cells in 
the sight center that was traversed before, but in this case, the 
nervous impulse originates, not in the sense organ, but in the 
brain itself. Such an impulse is called a centrally initiated im- 
pulse. It is seldom so strong as is the peripherally initiated 
impulse, and the visual idea is never so vivid, under ordinary 
circumstances, as is the percept. 

But sometimes, under extraordinary circumstances the 
centrally initiated impulse that is transmitted through the 
brain center, becomes as strong as the peripherally initiated 
impulse would be; and the accompanying visual idea becomes 
as vivid as the percept. The centrally initiated impulse may 
become so strong that it not only goes through the brain center, 
but flows backward to the retina, producing the same kind of a 
nervous disturbance in the retina that would be produced by 
the light waves from an object entering the eye. When such 
is the case, we experience the kind of a process that may be 
called a projected image. A projected image, then, is a visual 
idea that becomes as vivid as a percept would be. It is dis- 
criminated from a percept by the fact that it is accompanied 
by a centrally initiated impulse, instead of a peripherally in- 
itiated impulse. 

We may also discriminate a visual percept from a visual 
idea by means of the after image. If we look at an object in a 
good light, and then shut out the light by closing our eyes, we 
shall see a representation of the object with Our eyes closed. 
This representation is known as the after image. It arises 
from the fact that the nervous processes that are going on in 
the retina when we look at an object, persist for a short time 
after the light has been cut off. The after image is called posi- 
tive, if the relations of light and dark are the same in the 
after image as they are in the object. The after image is call- 
ed negative, if the relations of light and dark in the after 
image are the reverse of what they are in the object. If we 
close our eyes after having looked at a window, and see the 



PROJECTED IMAGES 27 

panes light and the sash dark, the image is a positive after 
image. If, however, under the same conditions, the panes are 
dark and the sash is light, the image is negative. When vve 
glance at the sun and then close our eyes, we are likely to see 
a round black spot, which is the negative after image of the 
sun. 

If we look intently at a red spot for a few seconds and 
then look away at a blank wall or a white object, we are likely 
to perceive on the wall a green spot of the same shape as the 
red spot at which we previously looked. This is the comple- 
mentary image, and depends upon the fact that the light en- 
tering the eye finds a condition which gives rise to the green 
sensation unchanged, while that which gave rise to the red 
sensation has been partially exhausted. 

In the light of the preceding discussion, we may make the 
following definitions. A vivid sensation is a simple mental 
process, whose concomitant is the transmission of a peripheral- 
ly initiated impulse through some brain center. 

A faint sensation is a simple mental process whose con- 
comitant is the transmission of a centrally initiated impulse 
through some sensation center. 

A percept is a combination of sensations, some of which 
must be vivid. It is a vivid process. 

An idea is a combination of faint sensations. It is a faint 
process. 

A positive after image is an image accompanied by retinal' 
changes persisting after the light has been excluded from the 
eye, in which the relations of light and dark are the same as 
they are in the object. 

A negative after image is an image accompanied by retinal 
changes that persist after the light has been excluded from the 
eye, in which the relations of light and dark are the converse 
of what they are in the object. 

A complementary image is one seen with the eyes open, 
in which the color is complementary to that shown by the ob- 
ject. 

A visual percept manifests an after image. A visual idea 
will show no after image. But in cases where the visual idea 
becomes very vivid, and is accompanied by a centrally initiated 
impulse so strong that the impulse will flow backward to the 



28 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

eye and produce a retinal disturbance, there will be an after 
image, and we may call the mental process a projected image. 
The projected image, then, differs from a visual idea in its 
vividness, in the fact that the impulse is very strong, that 
there is an after image, and that a retinal disturbance occurs. 
It differs from a percept in the fact that the nervous impulse 
which accompanies it is centrally initiated while in the percept 
the accompanying impulse is peripherally initiated. 

This discussion has been necessary to make clear the dis- 
tinctions between the different visual processes, and to under- 
stand what an imaginary playmate is. An imaginary playmate 
is a projected image. 

The capacity to project an image, or to project a visual 
idea is not unusual, but it is far from being universal. Chil- 
dren differ widely in their capacity to project. The method 
employed to determine whether a person is able to project an 
image was as follows: The object employed was a Red Seal Dry 
Cell Battery. The general color of the cell is red, with a white 
rectangular space on one side, in which is a red, many-pointed 
star. On this star printed in white letters, are the words Dry 
Battery, with the word Red in a curved line above, and the 
word Seal in a curved line below. The battery was exposed to 
the observation of the persons for two or three seconds, and 
then they were asked to see it off to one side, out in space, 
when the object was covered up. If they said they could see 
it clearly, they were then asked to place their hands over their 
eyes and try to discover an after image. If they reported an 
after image, it was accepted as evidence that they had really a 
projection of the object. Some examples will show the process, 
as well as some interesting applications of projection with in- 
structive modifications. 

Miss Genevra W. was able to project the image of the bat- 
tery cell out in space very clearly, and described accurately the 
color and appearance of the object from the projected image. 
The image was at least ninety per cent as bright as the real 
object would be, and an after image appeared in about three 
seconds. 

The phenomena are always the same. The image can be 
projected out in space, it is of different degrees of brightness 
varying from fifty per cent to one hundred per cent as bright 



PROJECTED IMAGES 29 

as the object, an after image is seen, the time of whose ap- 
pearance is invariable in the same person, but which differs in 
different persons. In the larger number of persons the after 
image is positive, but in some cases it is negative. 

The presence of the after image is taken as an evidence of 
the reality of the projection experience. We are so much ac- 
customed to using the expression, "see a thing," or seeing a 
relation, or any object of thought, that its use in connection 
with an object of perception whose material figure is not pres- 
ent, is likely to be misunderstood. In the projection of the 
image, there is a real sight experience. There is a real dis- 
turbance of the retina, which does not occur when we merely 
remember how a thing looked, or when we conceive it, or when 
we perceive a relation. This disturbance of the retina is evi- 
denced by the after image, and there can be little question 
that the nervous impulse which constitutes the retinal dis- 
turbance is transmitted backward from the brain center. This 
is the only satisfactory way of accounting for the observed 
phenomena, and this does not necessarily contradict the Bell- 
Magendie law. 

One example of projection was of such a nature that it led 
to a line of investigation which seemed at first to promise 
much. Miss Margaret M. reported that she could see the pro- 
jected image very clearly and she described it fully. She could 
read the words on the label, could describe the color, and then 
in describing the image, remarked that she saw in the image, 
in the upper left hand corner, a white mark that she had not 
noticed in the object itself. If she had been describing the ob- 
ject from memory, she would not have mentioned it. She did 
not know what it was. An examination of the object showed 
that it was a small white label, bearing the words Size A, and 
it was seen in perspective, showing scarcely more than a white 
line. 

This experiment, with several similar circumstances re- 
ported by other subjects, led to a series of tests based upon 
the assumption that what was projected was the object that 
had been presented to the eye*. Thus Miss D. stated that when 
she has read her lesson over, although she has not learned it 
very well, she is able to project the page of the book out in 
space, and read from the projected page the words of the text. 



30 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Similarly, the testimony of Miss Loretta B. is to the same ef- 
fect. Miss B. says that she has had only a single case that she 
believes would fall into the class described as a projected 
image. On one occasion, she with other members of her class, 
was required to commit to memory for recitation, a short poem. 
She neglected her study, but read the poem over without mak- 
ing a really serious attempt to commit it to memory. Being^ 
called upon suddenly to recite, she arose in a somewhat bewild- 
ered state of mind. While much startled and chagrined, she 
suddenly saw the page of the book containing the poem pro- 
jected, and made a brilliant recitation. 

A few cases such as those described led to a series of ex- 
periments as follows: A person who had been recognized as 
having the power of projection, was presented with a page of 
a book printed in large clear type, without any great number 
or confusing arrangement of lines and sentences. She was 
asked to look at a single point on the page, without reading the 
words and then, after a few seconds of looking, to project the 
page out in space and read the words. The results from sev- 
eral experiments seemed to be very promising, but some very 
instructive errors occurred. Thus Miss Mary A. was shown 
the title page of a text book on Elementary Psychology. She 
then projected the page, and read from the projected image, in 
the proper place, not the conspicuous words Elementary Psy- 
chology, but the words Holy Bible. Students of Psychology do 
not generally class the two books together in such a way as to 
form a really close association. Miss A. said that she knew it 
was wrong, but those were the words which actually appeared 
on the projected page. . 

A similar instructive error occurred in the report of a test 
with the Red Seal Dry Battery, in the case of Miss Eva K. 
Miss K. projected the image readily, and described it as at 
least ninety per cent as vivid as the real object was. A posi- 
tive after image appeared in about three seconds. The words 
Red Seal occurred on the label in curved lines, and between 
the word Red above and the word Seal below, Miss K, read the 
word guaranteed. The word guaranteed does not occur in this 
place, but it is found in some lines of smaller printing above 
the seal. The words Dry Battery occur in the place Miss K. 
described as occupied by the word guaranteed. 



PROJECTED IMAGES 31 

Such indications demonstrate rather clearly that the pro- 
jected image is not a projection of the object, nor of the image 
on the retina, but of the idea in the mind. There is no possi- 
bility of reading from the projected page anything that has 
not been read consciously or unconsciously when the page was 
presented to the eye. The results of the experiments in this 
direction which at first seemed so promising, are merely de- 
rived from the fact that all or a portion of the page has really 
been read, while the subject may believe that the eye has not 
moved in such a way as to -read it. 

The only purpose in presenting the object, such as the dry 
cell in the experiment, is to enable the person to obtain a clear 
idea that may be projected. After this clear idea has been ob- 
tained, it may be projected, time after time, and reinstated 
after the lapse of a considerable interval. 

Any other clear idea may be projected in the same way, 
even though it be of something that the person has never di- 
rectly observed, or experienced* Miss Theresa K. states that 
she has a friend whose image she is able to project at will. She 
can see her friend as clearly as if the living person were pres- 
ent in the room with her. She described on the test occasion 
the vivid appearance of her friend, could see how she was 
dressed, described how her hair was combed, and could see her 
walk. This projection is most vivid, and most easily obtained 
when she is alone in her room, although she is not limited to 
this condition. It is possible for her to project the image of 
her friend in a classroom where other students are, although 
not so readily as if she were alone. 

Similarly, Miss Eva K. projected and described clearly a 
room in her house at home, and indicated an indefinite number 
of minute details, which she testified that she could see as 
clearly as if she were present in the room at the time. 

Miss Edith B. projected the image of her mother, seated 
in a rocking chair, with her knees crossed, and assured me 
that the image was as clearly visible to her as the actual living 
presence of her mother would be. She assures me that what 
she sees is a really visible, projected image of her mother, not 
merely a memory of how her mother looked on some particular 
occasion. 

Comparatively few students make use of their power of 



32 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

projection in studying their lessons. Miss Jean S. states that 
when she is demonstrating a problem in geometry, she does 
not depend upon the figure in the book nor upon the black- 
board, but projects a figure out in space and employs that in 
making the demonstration. Nearly all the persons who can 
project an image testify that it is of assistance to them, but 
they make little systematic use of it. However, Miss Mary A. 
says that she has rather avoided its use. She has a kind of 
feeling that it is somewhat improper, or likely to be injurious, 
or indicative of a mental tendency that is not to be talked 
about in public, but rather to be concealed. Her capacity to 
project is rather high. 

Some teaching methods appear to have been devised by 
some teacher who has a capacity to project, apparently in the 
belief that this power is universal in children, or may be culti- 
vated until every child can project. When such methods are 
employed in classes that are not especially selected, it will be 
found that some children are bright and shining lights, capable 
of being employed to demonstrate the revolutionary character 
of the teaching methods. These children may be paraded at 
teachers' meetings to the amazed wonder of less fortunate 
teachers whose children show by other methods no evidence of 
approximating the wonderful ability of the show pupils. But 
it is likely to be the case that a large majority of the children 
left at home are not so responsive, and must be ranked with 
the lower incapable, common herd. The methods that demand 
a power of projection are not likely to be suitable for a very 
large proportion of the children. 

The number of persons who have the capacity to project 
an idea, while large in the aggregate, is not proportionally 
very great. A casual inquiry of any large class, after an ex- 
planation of what is meant by projection, will elicit a response 
of about thirty per cent. The actual results, obtained by care- 
ful tests, show about three per cent. The actual number 
probably lies between the two estimates. I have obtained posi- 
tive results from about half as many persons as have reported 
the experience of imaginary playmates. It seems probable that 
the number of cases among grown up persons is much less than 
in children. 



PROJECTED IMAGES 33 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Alexander — Visual Images. Psychological Review, 
volume 11, p. 139. 

Some discussion of projected images. Says criterion diffi- 
cult to obtain. (See page 324). Says no distinction really be- 
tween the mental image, the projected image, and the after 
image. 

2. J. M. Gillette — After Images. Psychological Review, 
volume 6, p. 420. Experiments which are believed to prove 
that an after image is accompanied by a retinal process. 

3. Burnham — Imagination in Children. Pedagogical 
Seminary, volume 2, p. 205-6. Cites many examples of project- 
ed images. Emphasizes the importance of studying individual 
differences. 

4. Colvin — Nature of the Image. Psychological Review, 
volume 15, p. 158. Claims for the image the same sort of ob- 
jectivity as that which belongs to sensation. Rather a good 
synopsis of the opinions of other writers. Little value as an 
original contribution. 

5. Downey — After Images From Mental Image. Psy- 
chological Review, volume 8,, p. 42. Account of a series of ex- 
periments. Not clear that the images are projected images, 
but they appear to be so. 

6. Galton — Inquiries into Human Faculty. P. 57-79. 
Everyman Edition. 



CHAPTER III 

IMAGES IN READING 

The explanation of projected images in the preceding chap- 
ter not only discloses to us the real nature of imaginary play- 
mates, but contributes to our understanding of a series of 
closely related phenomena which we may know as Images in 
Reading. The experience is one which is manifested in a com- 
paratively small number of persons, but is of great importance 
in several directions. Some persons experience a series of pro- 
jected images of the events as they are reading, and get the 
meaning of what they read by means of these projected images. 

The most difficult thing in teaching reading is to cause the 
children to get an adequate meaning from what they read. 
The words may be perfectly meaningless to the children, and 
may cause no thought to originate in their minds. Such read- 
ing is, of course, of no value as reading, and the child derives 
no benefit from it. Pronunciation of the words, inflection, em- 
phasis, expressive utterance, all are worse than useless, unless 
these qualities are the expression of thought aroused in the 
mind. 

The nature of meaning is not very satisfactorily deter- 
mined. Some persons who are extreme advocates of what has 
been described as the muscular movement theory of conscious- 
ness, assert that the meaning is the muscular movement that 
accompanies the perception of the words. The muscular move- 
ment that this theory contemplates, may be the movement of 
the muscles of the arms, or exterior parts of the body, but it 
is generally the movement of such muscles as those of the 
larynx, the vocal organs or the internal organs of the body. 
This theory of meaning, however,, has very little to commend 
it, to any one who is not obsessed with the theory that all con- 
sciousness is motor, and that we think with our muscles instead 
of with our brains. 

The meaning is something associated with the recognition 
of the words, but it is different from them. Words have no 
meaning unless they are associated with something already 
known. Meaning comes as the result of association, and it de- 
pends upon the recognition of the relation between the ideas 
that the words express, and some previous experience. Differ- 



IMAGES IN READING 35 

ent words have different meanings and different shades of 
meaning, dependent upon the mental processes which are 
caused to arise in the mind as a result of the recognition of the 
words. Hence we may say that oral reading is the expression 
of the thought that is aroused in us by the words on the print- 
ed page. 

Different persons have different methods of making the 
associations that constitute the meaning of what is read. With 
a small number of persons, the meaning consists of a series of 
visual pictures projected out into space, or appearing in some 
definite position on the page that is read. Thus the following 
accounts, brought out by careful questioning and comparison 
with the experience of others,, will indicate the manner in 
which some persons obtain meaning from what is read. 

Mr. Ralph E. reports that he projects images of the scenes 
of nearly everything that he reads. The images appear as a 
succession of scenes which, while they are decidedly real, are 
less vivid than the real objects would be. If he is reading Hia- 
watha, a succession of scenes appear that are about as vivid as 
the real scenes would be if they were seen in the late dusk of 
the evening. His estimate is about fifty per cent as bright as 
the real object would be. 

In the scenes appear all the primary colors. If he were 
reading about a field of clover, or any scene in which clover is 
mentioned, he would experience the sensation of clover color. 
When he is reading about a baseball game, he projects the 
movements of the players, and the entire game is enacted be- 
fore him. He has no image for relation words, but the story 
of what he is reading appears before him in visual scenes. 

These visualized scenes belong to the same group of phe- 
nomena as do the projected images described in the preceding 
chapter, and whenever the test is made, an after image ap- 
pears. Miss Avis R. visualizes everything that she reads, and 
the projected images follow one another along the line of her 
reading, just above the top of the line. There is no color in 
the images, but they appear to be at least fifty per cent as 
bright as the real scene would be. There is a negative after 
image that appears whenever she makes the test for it by clos- 
ing her eyes. 

The definite location of the images which Miss R. describes, 



36 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

occurs in many cases of projection in reading, but it is not uni- 
versal. The following account presents in the clearest possible 
way, the extent to which this power of visualization in reading 
may go. 

Miss Clarissa F. visualizes everything that she reads. In 
reading Hiawatha, she sees clearly the scenes and the charac- 
ters of the story. The images that she sees do not appear as 
pictures, but seem to be real objects, full of color, and quite as 
vivid as the real objects would bej. She feels herself to be in 
the midst of them, and the images are vividly real and all 
around her. She dislikes to have pictures in books, because 
they do not correspond to her images, and are not so vivid and 
beautiful as those which she projects. She prefers reading a 
book to going to a moving picture show. In fact, she rather 
dislikes to go to the movies, because she can more easily enjoy 
a better show of more brilliant and more beautiful pictures by 
reading a book at home. 

In the case of Miss Avis R. referred to above, mention is 
made of the fact that the images are seen with reference to 
the lines of print that are read. In many cases, the images 
are not definitely located, but in some examples their location 
can be definitely described. Miss Grace L. reports that she 
seems to interpret all her reading by means of the projected 
visual images of the ideas which she reads. When she is read- 
ing Hiawatha, she sees a succession of images that shade into 
one another. The images are seen, not as pictures, but as real 
objects would seem, and are always in front of her. Miss L. 
says about four feet in front of her, but her answers to other 
questions indicate that her conception of measured distance is 
rudimentary. The images are located with reference to the 
person and not with reference to the page. • The visualized 
images are at least fifty per cent as bright as the real objects 
would be. 

Miss Mildred M. also visualizes everything that she reads, 
and the succession of pictures that she projects is located at 
the top of the page. 

When the images are not located with reference to the 
page, they are more likely to be represented as real objects 
than as pictures. When the projected images are conceived to 
be real objects, they are located somewhere out in space, and 



IMAGES IN READING 37 

the person is likely to have the feeling of being in the midst of 
the scenes. In some such cases, the background on which the 
images are projected is some locality with which the person is 
already familiar. 

An example of the last characteristic is the case of Mr. 
Robert T. Mr. T. projects images of the situations in almost 
everything that he reads. The images are not pictures, nor 
illustrations, but images of real things with color and move- 
ment of the characters. These images are very nearly one 
hundred per cent as bright as the real objects would be. They 
are not located with reference to the page of the book, but 
seem to be located out in space. Associated with nearly all the 
projected images of the reading, is a background of a single 
familiar locality. They seem to be projected upon a back- 
ground of King's Flats, a definite Ypsilanti situation. 

Very similar is the testimony of Miss Helen H. Miss H. 
visualizes everything that she reads,, and she reads very slowly 
in order that the pictures shall have time to pass along. She 
does not like to have pictures in books, because the illustrations 
are not likely to agree with the scenes that she projects, and 
when they do not, she does not like the book. 

The images that she projects do not seem to be pictures, 
but seem to be images of real things, or objects that she per- 
ceives. She estimates that they are at least seventy-five per 
cent as bright as the real objects would be under the same 
conditions. 

The images that she projects are likely to be associated 
with familiar localities. If she is reading a story in which a 
river is mentioned as one of the circumstances, the river that 
would appear in the projected images would be the Huron 
River, with which she is familiar. In reading, she loses the 
consciousness of the words, and watches the changing scenes 
as they are projected. 

It is highly interesting to listen to the testimony of a per- 
son who has two methods of getting meaning from his reading. 
Mr. Lloyd G. reports that when he is reading, he is not con- 
scious of the words of the book, but is conscious of looking upon 
a continuous series of scenes. They are not pictures, but 
scenes of real objects that he projects. They seem to be in the 



38 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

distance, and are rendered small by perspective. They seem to 
partake of the nature of miniature scenes. 

Mr. G. likes to have pictures in books, especially pictures 
of the characters of the story. He sees the characters that 
are pictured in the book, but in his projected images he sees 
them in a wholly different setting - . His own characters seem 
to have no distinguishable faces, but they take on the faces 
represented by the pictures in the book. The projected scenes 
are about seventy-five per cent as bright as the real scenes 
would be. 

Mr. G. finds it difficult to read technical works, because it 
is hard to project, or picture, the things told about there. He 
has two ways of reading; one by means of projected images 
and one without. The second method is very laborious and 
slow. He is somewhat at a loss to understand how some per- 
sons can enjoy reading at all without the capacity to picture 
the incidents in visual form. 

Miss Marguerite S. projects images of almost everything 
that she reads. The images are extraordinarily vivid. She be- 
lieves that they are one hundred per cent as vivid as the real 
objects would be. The objects appear in their natural colors, 
and are not the colors of pictures, but visual projected repre- 
sentations of real objects, with their motions, colors, and she 
even listens for the sounds that they make. 

Miss Evelyn B. also projects images of what she is reading 
about. These images are in their natural colors, and fully one 
hundred per cent as bright as the real object would be. The 
images are not located with reference to the page, but they 
seem to be all around her, and she seems to be living in the 
midst of them. She dislikes to have pictures in books, because 
the pictures do not agree with her projections,- and the discrep- 
ancy makes her feel uncomfortable. 

Miss Irene S. projects images of the scenes and characters 
of the story that she is reading, and these projected images are 
at least seventy-five per cent as bright as the real objects would 
be. They seem to be some distance away from her, and there 
is considerable color in the images. They contribute a great 
deal to her enjoyment of what she is reading, and she believes 
that she would not enjoy reading if she could not see the 
images of her own projection. 



IMAGES IN READING 39 

This capacity to project ideas of what she reads is of much 
service to her in arithmetic. Whenever she is asked such a 
question as "A man had seventeen cows in one pasture and 
eight in another. How many cows did he have in both?" she 
sees a group of brown cows in a square pen, moving around 
and feeding, and a similar group in another pen. 

Words that express relation have their projected counter- 
parts as truly as do words that represent material objects. 
The word of, for example, presents a picture of two words with 
something between. So the relation words are all of them 
represented by some kind of a visual projected image. 

The above discussion represents the general tendency of 
the description of the process of projecting images from read- 
ing, as it is illustrated in twenty-one cases that have been 
studied. These twenty-one cases have been collected from 
about eight hundred students, but the proportion must not be 
considered representative. The census is far from complete 
among this number of students. The probability is great that 
twice the number of cases might have been collected,. 

These cases represent examples of visual projection. No 
attempt was made to study the reading of those who obtain 
the meaning of what they read by visual ideas which are not 
projected. Many persons obtain the meaning of what they 
read by means of visual ideas that are not projected, some by 
means of auditory projection, and still others seem to obtain 
meanings in ways that are neither visual nor auditory. 



CHAPTER IV 

HALLUCINATIONS 

The subject of hallucinations has attracted a great deal of 
attention ever since the mind of man was turned to the study 
of his own mental experiences. Many volumes have been de- 
voted exclusively to this one topic, and hundreds of articles 
may be discovered by turning to the files of psychological mag- 
azines. 

Hallucinations constitute one of the psychological topics 
that are of perennial interest to the non-psychological reader. 
They furnish the basis for ninety-nine per cent of all ghost 
stories, and constitute the determining factor for many his- 
torical events of world wide importance. The justification for 
introducing a discussion of such a well known topic in this 
place is the fact that they belong to the same category as do 
imaginary playmates, projected images, and images in reading. 

A hallucination is a mental process which is accompanied 
by a centrally initiated impulse as strong as a peripherally 
initiated impulse would be under the same circumstances. It 
is an idea that becomes as vivid as a percept. We distinguish 
a percept from an idea by its greater vividness; and when an 
idea takes on an unusual vividness, we are unable to distin- 
guish it, and consequently believe that we experience a per- 
cept. Hence it is that we rarely discover that we have experi- 
enced a hallucination. No doubt, many persons really have the 
experience without knowing it. 

Any condition that induces an unusual strength of. a cen- 
trally initiated impulse in the brain is likely to be favorable to 
hallucinations. Any condition that induces inflammation of 
brain tissue, such as the condition that occurs in cases of brain 
fever, delirium tremens, or maniacal insanity, is likely to be 
accompanied by hallucinations. 

So, also, children and young persons, are more likely to ex- 
perience hallucinations than are older persons, since they gen- 
erate nervous energy in excess. No doubt, little children ex- 
perience a very great number of hallucinations, and the life of 
a little child is a constant struggle to distinguish hallucinations 
from actual percepts. 

We shall need, for our study, to distinguish a hallucination 



HALLUCINATIONS 41 

from a closely related experience that is often confounded with 
it, that is, an illusion. We can best make the distinction clear 
by reference to the nervous impulses that accompany them. In 
a hallucination, there is no peripherally initiated impulse. The 
impulse is altogether centrally initiated. A common way of 
describing this is to say that in a hallucination we see some- 
thing when there is nothing to see. In the case of an illusion, 
there is a peripherally initiated impulse, but it is carried to 
the wrong brain center. There is something there to see, but 
we see the wrong thing. We do not see the thing that is there, 
but we see something else. 

With this distinction, we can examine some examples of 
hallucinations with great profit. As an example of a typical 
hallucination, we may consider the following: Miss Edna P. 
was staying all night with a friend whose father, as well as the 
rest of the family, had gone away. The two girls were alone 
in the house, and slept late the following morning. About ten 
o'clock, Miss P. got up and went into an adjoining room, when 
she saw her friend's father standing at a wash stand washing 
his hands. He looked at her and smiled. She went back to 
her friend and told her that her father had returned, which 
surprised her friend very much. They went back to the room 
to see him, when he could not be found, and there were no in- 
dications that any one had been there. The friend's father re- 
turned the next day. 

This is a good example of a hallucination. Miss P. was 
fortunate in the conditions being of such a nature that the 
hallucinatory character of the experience was easily discovered. 
If the father had been dead, or died soon afterward, there 
would have been a strong tendency to assert that the appear- 
ance was connected with the fact of death. The appearance 
would have been explained as a ghost, or a materialized spirit. 
A slight tendency toward mysticism, or spiritualism, would 
have adduced it as indubitable evidence of the existence of a 
separable astral body. But under the circumstances, there can 
be little disposition to adopt a mythical, mystical, supernatural 
explanation of the event, especially in the light of our preced- 
ing studies of projected images, images in reading, and imag- 
inary playmates. 

A similarly clear case of hallucination, uncomplicated by 



42 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

any contributory circumstance is seen in the following: Miss 
Mabel B. was one day walking with a friend from the Normal 
School building to the Science building between classes. She 
met a little boy with a blue cambric waist and corduroy trou- 
sers. The boy passed her on one side, stepping off the sidewalk 
to do so. Almost as soon as he had passed, Mabel asked her 
companion, Mrs. McC, what that little boy was doing there at 
that time in the day, and turned around to look again at him. 
There was no little boy there, and Mrs. McC assured her that 
no little boy had passed them, or was present at the time. 

This case is instructive from the fact that it occurred in 
bright daylight, with other persons present. There was noth- 
ing confusing nor mystical about the entire experience, and no 
temptation to give it a supernatural nor mythical interpreta- 
tion. 

Both of the preceding examples have been cases of simple 
hallucinations, in which the hallucinatory experiences involved 
persons. But hallucinations are frequently much more com- 
plex, and are not limited to appearances of persons. Miss 
Phebe C. reports that one afternoon she was standing at the 
gate by her house, looking toward the northwest. In front of 
her she saw a large house surrounded by a big fence, and in 
front of it a large suspension bridge. The appearance was 
very clear and definite. The background toward the northwest 
consisted of a mass of trees and shrubs. The image disappear- 
ed in a few minutes. 

On another occasion, when she was about nine years old, 
she was hanging upon a farm gate near the back of her house. 
She was looking up into the sky, and she saw near the zenith, 
a number of trees somewhat enclosing a small .lake. Behind 
the trees she saw a deer come out running away from three 
hunters on horseback. The deer ran through the pond and 
escaped. At least, she did not see the hunters catch the deer. 

The general characteristic of a hallucination is the fact 
that it occurs a single time, and there is no regular periodic 
recurrence of the experience. It is this fact more than 
any other that induces a belief in the reality of the perception. 
Cases of imaginary playmates are not hallucinatory, because 
by continued repetition, the children come to recognize that 
the playmate, despite its vividness, is not a real, living child. 



HALLUCINATIONS 43 

But the single instance of any particular hallucination does not 
permit a comparison of one experience with another, and there 
is little opportunity to correct the false perception. Conse- 
quently, a hallucination is generally believed to be a real per- 
cept, or a perception of a real thing. 

However, there are cases of recurrent hallucinations. Thus 
Miss Fay P. frequently sees a cat, which is usually black, but 
may be of other colors. The cat is generally seen on the floor, 
nearly in front of her, so that she feels herself in danger of 
stepping on it. The appearance never lasts more than half a 
minute, and very quickly disappears when she looks directly at 
it. She does nol remember when the cat first appeared to her, 
but probably as early as she was able to remember anything. 
It now appears to her perhaps once in three months. ' 

Somewhat similar is the experience of Miss Hazel S. who 
reports that she experiences the hallucination of a woman m a 
black dress, passing outside of her sitting room window. The 
person is a stranger, and investigation invariably shows that 
no person has passed the window, nor is there any one in sight 
when she undertakes to investigate. The experience began 
when she was about fifteen years old, and then it occurred al- 
most every day. She sees it occasionally yet, the latest appear- 
ance being about six weeks previous to this report. 

In the last two cases there is very little distinction to be 
discovered between such a hallucination and an imaginary 
playmate. The recurrence of the event leads to a recognition 
of its non-real character, and a disbelief in the veridical nature 
of the experience. This is one of the principal distinctions oe- 
tween the imaginary playmate and the hallucinatory experi- 
ence. 

The distinction between a hallucination and an illusion is 
the fact that there is a real objective basis for the illusion, 
while there is none for the hallucination. But in some cases 
even this distinction becomes obscured, as in the following in- 
stance. Mrs. May W. reports that when she was a little girl, 
one day she was lying on the. floor- looking at some plates in a 
fashion magazine. Suddenly, two of the lady figures in the 
plates walked out of the picture into the room and disappeared. 
She called to her mother inquiring where the two ladies had 
gone, and searched for them a long time without finding them. 



44 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Somewhat similar is the report of Miss Laura McN. Miss 
McN. says that her father died before she was born. There 
was an enlarged picture of him hanging at the foot of her bed 
in her room. One night, when she was in bed, and much 
troubled over some circumstance of the day, her father walked 
right out of the picture and took on the size of a man. She 
was frightened at first, but gradually became less so. Her 
father talked to her and comforted her. Since that time, she 
has frequently seen her father and has consulted with him 
when she was in trouble. She disclaims any belief in spiritual- 
ism, and knows the distinction between her father's appear- 
ance and that of a living man. 

In this case we have a peculiar combination of an illusion, 
whose material basis is the picture, an imaginary playmate, 
recognized in the habitual character of the experience, and a 
hallucination. It is of the kind, too, in which certain types of 
mind would revel in furnishing a mystical explanation of the 
circumstance. 

Another illustration of the close relation between halluci- 
nation and illusion is found in the experience of Miss Kather- 
ine D. Miss D. was one time talking to a woman at her own 
home. Suddenly, the woman changed into a skeleton, showing 
the appearance of the articulated bones. Miss D. was very 
much startled, but reached out her hand and touched the 
woman, when she immediately changed back again from a skel- 
eton to a woman. 

There can be no explanation of such an experience as this, 
and in fact none is needed, except that for some unexplained 
reason, the nervous impulse, established in the retina, had 
ceased to pass through the combination of cells in the brain 
that corresponded to the appearance of the woman, and had 
switched off to the combination that corresponded to the ap- 
pearance of the skeleton. 

It was intimated above that little children are more sus- 
ceptible to hallucinations than are grown up persons. This 
must be associated with the fact that children generate ner- 
vous energy in large amounts, in excess of the demands made 
upon it by the bodily activities. They would neither play, nor 
grow, if they did not. Hence we shall find that children ex- 
perience hallucinations as naturally as they play or grow, and 



HALLUCINATIONS 45 

for the same reason that we find in children the phenomena of 
imaginary playmates. 

We fail to consider the hallucinatory experiences of 
children as much as we ought to do, principally because the 
children themselves do not recognize their hallucinatory char- 
acter. They cannot testify to their experiences, except by 
their actions. It is impossible for us to inquire systematically 
of a baby, "See here. Will you kindly tell me whether you ex- 
perience hallucinations or not?" 

But in many cases we can discover that children have ex- 
periences which we can interpret and understand only if we 
are acquainted with the nature of hallucinations, and if we 
have them in mind as possible explanations of children's ac- 
tions. The following case will indicate the highly necessary 
character of the knowledge of hallucinations if we are to deal 
justly and wisely with children. 

Miss Clare 0., when a little girl, went to bed one night, in 
a dark room. Suddenly the room seemed to be illuminated 
brightly, although no source of illumination was apparent. In 
the light she saw two figures, like Brownies, fantastic creatures 
of rainbow colors, and very animated. They pointed at her 
and laughed and talked, although she was unable to hear their 
voices. She screamed, and her aunt came and took her into 
the next room where it was quite light. Her aunt placed her 
on the arm of a chair, and the two figures (Miss 0. did not use 
the word Brownies) perched upon the other arm and looked at 
her and laughed. 

In some such experience as this, we find the explanation 
of the fears and terrors that many children manifest. If the 
children could tell us what they see, or if we had sufficient 
knowledge of the facts of hallucinations, we should be able to 
deal more wisely than we now do in many cases, with children. 

In all the cases adduced as examples of hallucination above, 
the experience has been a visual one. But hallucinations may 
occur in any sense, and may be of hearing or touch, or of other 
kinds. The following examples will illustrate hallucinations of 
hearing: 

Miss Lulu M. reports that she has often heard her mother 
calling her, and has heard her mother make some remark when 
she was far distant from her. On several occasions she has re- 



46 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

turned home from a distance of two or three blocks, asking 
what her mother had said, only to find that the entire experi- 
ence was hallucinatory. 

Similarly, Miss Mabel B. was studying in her room when 
she distinctly heard her mother call her. She went out into 
the hall, opening the door to do so, but no one was in the halL 
Then she went down stairs and asked of the family living in 
the house, where her mother was. She was assured that no 
one was present in the house except the immediate family, and 
that her mother had not called her. 

In these cases, the impulse of exaggerated intensity had 
traversed the brain centers in the region for hearing rather 
than in the more common one of sight. So the hallucinations 
may be observed in any sense, although sight and hearing are 
the more common. 

In all cases of hallucination heretofore adduced there can 
be no supposition of any disease, present or prospective, phy- 
sical or mental. A hallucination is not an abnormal experi- 
ence, nor is it indicative of disease of any kind. However, 
where there is a diseased condition of the brain that is accom- 
panied by inflammation, hallucinations are likely to occur. 
Brain fever and delirium tremens are nearly always accom- 
panied by hallucinations. 

Miss Ethel K. reports that one day she had the unusual 
experience of hearing a band of music all day. The band play- 
ed no recognizable tune, but all day there were strains of beau- 
tiful music heard. The experience was very pleasant, and she 
enjoyed it very much. Soon afterward, she had a spell of ty- 
phoid fever. It seems rather likely, in this case, that the hal- 
lucinatory audible experience of the music was associated with 
the oncoming of the disease. 

A less pleasing experience associated with disease is of the 
kind reported by Miss Gertrude P. Miss P. was suffering from 
nervous prostration induced by overwork. While lying in her 
bed, she would frequently see various friends of hers assuming 
strange attitudes and grotesque shapes. They would appear 
to her to be dancing upon the window sills and perched upon 
various parts of her bed. Various kinds of animals would ap- 
pear to her as different kinds of religions, and would demand 
that they be worshiped. There is no limit to the kinds of hal- 



HALLUCINATIONS 47 

lucinations that may accompany disease, but hallucination 
must not be considered as essentially indications of present or 
oncoming disease. 

The phenomena of hallucinations have attracted the at- 
tention of investigators for a long time, and a whole library of 
books has been written upon the subject. In European coun- 
tries an investigation was undertaken many years ago to dis- 
cover how many persons had ever experienced hallucinations, 
and the same kind of an inquiry was carried out in the United 
States by Professor James. The result showed that about ten 
per cent of all the persons who answered the inquiries had had 
the experience. Also, it was found that the greater number 
of cases of hallucination reported, had occurred when the per- 
sons were young. More persons had experienced hallucinations 
between the ages of fifteen and twenty, than between the ages 
of twenty and twenty-five. More had experienced hallucina- 
tions between twenty and twenty-five than between twenty- 
five and thirty, while the number of hallucinations decreased 
as the persons grew older. 

If it were possible to secure an accurate report from 
younger persons, it would probably be found that the number 
of hallucinations rapidly increases as the age becomes less. It is 
nearly certain that all persons have experienced hallucinations, 
especially when they are very young children. The reason why 
so small a number of persons report the experience is because 
the hallucinatory character of the experiences has not been 
discovered. Unless a person discovers that the thing he really 
saw was not there to see, he would never report it as a halluci- 
nation!. Only those hallucinations that are discovered can be 
reported. Also, it is extremely probable that many of the hal- 
lucinations that are experienced in early childhood, are for- 
gotten. 

In my own inquiries, I have found that about thirteen per 
cent of the persons have recognized experiences as being of a 
hallucinatory character; but this does not prevent the conclu- 
sion that all persons have, or may have had hallucinations. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. James — Principles of Psychology, volume 2, p. 114- 
131. Note especially that Mr. James admits the possibility of a 



48 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

backward flowing impulse, on p. 131. He describes a halluci- 
nation as a true perception, but makes rather a difficult mean- 
ing for perception. 

2. Parish — Hallucinations and Illusions. Contemporary- 
Science Series. Chapter 3, p. 77-109. Especially devoted to a 
report of the International Census of Hallucinations, classify- 
ing them according to various characteristics. Footnote on 
p. 65 says children are especially susceptible to hallucinations. 
On p. 109,, says hallucinations are very quickly forgotten. His 
theory of the nature and the cause, as well as his definition of 
hallucination, is very obscure and involved. 

3. Boris Sidis — Nature of Hallucinations. Psychological 
Review, volume 11, p. 15-104. A long, technical, and involved 
paper. Discusses the nature of perception, and says that hal- 
lucination is a secondary perception. 



CHAPTER V 



NUMBER FORMS 

It was Francis Galton who first called our attention in an 
emphatic way, definitely to an experience that many persons 
have, but which many others do not have. This experience has 
come to be known by the name of number forms, and consists 
of a definite way of thinking of the series of ordinal numbers. 
This can best be explained by a description of a few examples. 

Miss Ethel G. always thinks of the numbers from 1 to 100 
in a definite form. The numbers from 1 to 15 run in a series 
of three curves joined to each other in a general horizontal di- 
rection from left to right. She sees the numbers 4 to 10 crowd- 
ed together, while the others are more widely spaced. Then 
the form turns vertically upward in a sharp curve carrying 
the numbers 16 to 20. From 20 to 40 the numbers are ar- 
ranged in a line nearly horizontal, running toward the left, 
approximately parallel to the line 1 to 15. From 40 to 60 the 
figure makes a round turn upward, and the numbers 60 to 1 00 
are borne on a vertical extension of this line. 

There are two facts to be observed in the description of 
such a figure. The first fact is that when we say a person sees 
the numbers arranged this way, we mean that he has a visual 
idea, not a projected image, of these numbers. In no case of 
the 67 examples which have been collected for this study has 
any one described the figures as being projected. The second 
fact to be considered, is that, although in our description we 
may use the phrase that the line runs so and so, and bears the 
numbers, this phrase does not necessarily mean that there is 
an actual line apparent in the figure. In some cases,, the lines 
actually appear; but in many other cases, the figure consists of 
an arrangement of the numbers in a certain sequence to each 
other, and the figure is drawn on paper, by making lines that 
connect the positions of successive numbers. In Miss G.'s case, 
there are no lines in the figure, but the numbers are arranged 
in such a position that the line connecting their positions will 
assume the shape indicated in the diagram. 

Another figure will also be very instructive. Miss Bertha 
So always sees (has a visual idea of) the numbers arranged in 
a well defined form. It consists of a series of curves extending 



50 IMAGINAKY PLAYMATES 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE I. 

Fig. 1.— Number form of Ethel G. 

Fig. 2. — Number form of Bertha S. 

Fig. 3. — Number form of Marjorie V. 

Fig. 4. — Number form of Marguerite S. 

Fig. 5. — Number form of Carrie G. 

Fig. 6. — Number form of Martha M. 

Fig. 7. — Number form of Ruth R. 

Fig. 8. — Number form of Ruby C. Note the two branches. 



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52 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

from right to left in a generally horizontal direction, and carry- 
ing the numbers from 1 to 19. From 20 to 29 the numbers 
are borne on a vertical downward extension of the preceding 
line. Other numbers to 100 are borne on vertical lines parallel 
to the line from 20 to 29, with the tens multiples at the top 
and the 9's at the bottom. 100 is nearly below 1. 

The definiteness of a number form is well illustrated by 
that of Miss Marjorie V. Miss V.'s number form begins with 1 
at the bottom of a vertical line, and the numbers extend up- 
ward to 12. Here the line turns to the right, not quite hori- 
zontal, but ranging slightly upward carrying the numbers 
from 12 to 20. Thence it turns upward and slightly backward 
to 25. Then changing its direction slightly forward toward 
the right, only five or ten degrees from the vertical, it con- 
tinues to 30. Then it runs toward the left, horizontally to 100 
nearly above 1%. Thence it turns 45 degrees upward to 120. 
From this point the numbers run indefinitely upward in a vert- 
ical direction. 

The above examples may be considered fairly typical, 
neither the most complex nor the most simple. Many persons 
have number forms in which the numbers are arranged in a 
single straight line running vertically or horizontally, toward 
the right or toward the left, or directly forward from the per- 
son. But there are examples of number forms of a bewildering 
degree of complexity in three dimensions of space. 

One of the most complex is that of Miss Carrie G. who 
sees the numbers from 1 to 100 borne on a conical spiral of 
ten turns in which she is enclosed. 1 is at her left about on a 
level with her waist. Then the spiral lines run toward the 
right, clockwise, and 10 is just above 1. The turn of the spiral 
that bears the numbers 10 to 20 is just above the first one, and 
the turns of the spiral continue upward becoming smaller and 
smaller, until the last turn is just above her head with 100 at 
the center. The numbers from 101 to 200 are borne on a sim- 
ilar spiral, about four feet in front of her, and the turns of the 
spiral are smaller. The other numbers are borne by hundreds, 
each hundred on its corresponding spiral in front of her, and 
each spiral becoming smaller than the preceding, and separated 
from it by a greater distance^ Beyond 1,000, the numbers run 
straight away from her in an indefinite straight line. 



NUMBER FORMS 53 

Another kind of complexity is illustrated by the number 
form of Miss Marguerite S. This form is rendered even more 
complex by the fact that there is a duplication of the same 
succession of figures for the higher and larger numbers. One 
series of numbers from 1 to 9 occupies a vertical line at the be- 
ginning of the figure, with 1 at the bottom and 9 at the top. 
The continuation of the line terminates at 10. The figure then 
makes a square turn to the left to 12, then turns vertically 
upward to 15, then turns to the left to 20; thence downward 
to 100. From 100 the numbers to 109 are carried on an as- 
cending line joining the first at 9. The figure then duplicates 
the first part to 200 and is almost a repetition of the first part 
to 300. Then the figure turns upward to 350, downward to 
400, upward again to 500 continuing to 1,000,, then almost a 
repetition of the first part again to 1,200, 1,500, and 2,000. 

Mr. Robert T. has a number form that consists of a defi- 
nite arrangement of figures and mathematical characters scat- 
tered promiscuously over a surface. He says this arrangement 
is definite and permanent, and he is able to reproduce the 
same arrangement at any time. In a test, he did write two 
copies exactly alike, writing the second without any reference 
to the first. Whenever a number or operation is mentioned, 
Mr. T. always sees the corresponding character or process rep- 
resented in this figure. 

No explanation can be offered why the persons see or 
think of numbers in these several ways. No one is able to 
make any suggestion why the number forms assume the shapes 
that they do. No one is able to record the process by which a 
number form began, and in some cases, the person does not 
know that he has a number form until his attention has been 
called to it by an inquiry. However, much the larger number 
of persons who have number forms are quite surprised when 
they are informed that other persons do not have number 
forms, or think of numbers in a different way. 

Almost the nearest suggestion of the beginning of a num- 
ber form is derived from the testimony of Miss Martha M. 
Miss M. has a number form that begins with a spiral of two 
turns at the right bearing the numbers from 1 to 20. The other 
numbers to 100 are borne on a series of semicircles joined to 
each other with the convex side downward, each semicircle car- 



54 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE II. 

Fig. 1. — Number form of Robert T. 
Fig. 2.— Number form of Fred F. 



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rying ten numbers, and each becoming smaller than the preced- 
ing, so that the entire series constitutes a straight horizontal 
line toward the left. The numbers from 100 to 1,000 are borne 
on a large semicircle continuing the direction of the smaller 
units of the series. 

Miss M. first learned to count to 20. When she started to 
school, she got a whipping because she could not count farther 
than 20, so she knows that the figure did not extend beyond 20 
at that time. She supposes that she had the spiral part of the 
figure then. In the figure, she seems to be located at the point 
that represents her age. Beyond her age, the figure extends 
to the left. 

The number form of Miss M. is interesting for another 
circumstance. In Galton's book, "Inquiries Into Human Fac- 
ulty," is published a number form almost identical with it, and 
in an article by Mr. G. T. W. Patrick, in the Popular Science 
Monthly, in 1893, is another that is very similar. That there 
should be published three number forms of such a complex 
nature so closely similar is certainly a coincidence. 

In the case of Miss M. it will be recognized that there is a 
definite relation between the number form and the position of 
the person. The number form occupies a definite location with 
reference to her body. In many cases we find that the same 
relation exists. In another case mentioned above, that of Miss 
Carrie G., the person was included within the turns of the 
spiral. So in the figure of Miss Florence S., the number form 
begins with 1 at her right and below her waist, runs upward 
and across until 10 is directly in front, then turns upward and 
backward reaching above her head on the left side at 20. 

In a very few cases we find two branches to the number 
form. Miss Ruby C. has a number form that begins at a point 
about a foot in front of her, as high as her shoulder. The first 
branch runs directly upward, and bears the number 1 to 20. 
The second branch begins at the same point as the first, curves 
around toward her right getting farther from her as it pro- 
ceeds. This branch bears the numbers from 1 to 100; the 1 to 
20 being duplications of the numbers on the first branch. 100 
on the second branch,, which does not appear on the first, is 
about an arm's length away from her. This second branch is 



NUMBER FORMS 57 

curved so much that the numbers above 100 are lost, as if they 
had got beyond the range of her vision. 

Similarly Miss Hattie M. has a number form with two 
branches, although this character would not be discovered by 
simply looking at the figure. Miss M. says that the figure be- 
gins at 7 and runs both ways, 7 is the starting point in all her 
number conceptions. 

In some cases there are features of the number forms that 
distinguish it clearly from the common experiences. Thus Miss 
Ida F. has a very simple number form, consisting of a broken 
line somewhat ascending from left to right in a series of steps 
of unequal value. The numbers from 4 to 8 are dark. 14 to 
20 are light. 13 is dark. Very much the same is the report of 
Miss Irene S., who has a simple number form, the special pe- 
culiarity of it being that in the various parts of the figure 
there are variations in the brightness of the line, and the num- 
bers located along it. The numbers 1 to 7 are dark, then the 
figure gradually grows lighter until about 40, when it darkens. 
From 40 to 56 there is a curve, and from 70 onward, the figure 
gradually becomes darker. 

The testimony of nearly every one concerning the number 
forms is that they are very helpful, not only in remembering 
numbers, but in making computations. The testimony of Mr. 
Fred F. will be found representative of much the larger num- 
ber of those who have number forms. 

Mr. F. has rather a complex number form. The numbers 
from 1 to 19 are located along a series of four curves ascending 
from the left toward the right, joining each other at sharp 
angles. 20 does not follow 19 directly, but is located at the end 
of a curve which begins about one number to the left of 19, 
and extends toward the right,. A series of two curves still as- 
cending toward the right carry the numbers from 20 to 29, 
with 24 at the angle of junction. 30 to 39 are carried on 
two curves nearly horizontal joining the preceding curves at 
31 and extending toward the left, with 35 at the angle of 
junction. 40 to 49, 50 to 59, are on. double curves parallel to 
that of 30 to 39. 

Mr. F. is a mathematician of high rank. He has carried 
his mathematical studies far beyond the point at which most 
students stop, and his opinions concerning the utility of num- 



58 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

ber forms are of decided interest. .Asked if the number form 
was of any particular value to him, he replied that he made 
constant use of it, and he was unable to understand how per- 
sons lacking a number form could carry on mathematical com- 
putations at all. 

The testimony of other persons is almost invariably the 
sama^. Miss Lucile A. says that she does not know how she 
could learn arithmetic without her number form. Miss Vira F. 
states that it is of much help to her in arithmetic, and she can 
think of numbers in no other way. If she were deprived of it, 
she thinks it would be very difficult for her to calculate num- 
bers at all. Miss Marjorie V. believes this figure is of consid- 
erable assistance to her in remembering numbers, although she 
does not use it in computation. Miss Georgia F. says that she 
has had her number form "always," and it seems to be some 
advantage to her in arithmetic, although not a great deal. 
Miss Ruth R. says that she does not know why she sees num- 
bers in this way, but she always does so, and the form is of 
considerable assistance to her in her number calculations. Miss 
Martha M. states that her number form is of much assistance 
to her in addition and subtraction. 

A very few persons assert that the number form is of no 
value to them. Thus Miss Lillian W. does not believe that her 
number form is of any assistance to her in arithmetic or com- 
putation, although she always sees the numbers in this definite 
way. Miss Genevra W. has a number form, as do her father 
and her brother. Her father is a very skillful mathematician 
and her brother is also proficient. She herself has studied 
mathematics, even taking trigonometry as an optional subject 
in the high school. Nevertheless, she has no love for the sub- 
ject and considers herself a poor mathematician. She believes 
that her number form is a detriment to her in learning mathe- 
matics. 

It is difficult for a person with no number form to under- 
stand what is meant by a number form,, and how it is employed 
in making calculations. The testimony is that whenever a per- 
son who has a number form hears a number mentioned, he im- 
mediately sees or thinks of the number in its proper position, 
in the figure, and always in its proper relation to the other 
numbers. In making computations, Mice Lucile A*, testifies 



NUMBER FORMS 59 

that if she were asked to multiply two numbers, such as 7 and 
8, she would see the 7 in the figure, and then she would see 
the 8, and would know the product by its location in the figure. 
This is about as much of a description of the process of using 
a number form as one is able to give. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Galton — Inquiries Into Human Faculty — p. 79-105 
(Everyman Edition). One of the first investigations into num- 
ber forms and still one of our best. 

2. G. T. W. Patrick — Number Forms — Popular Science 
Monthly, February, 1893. One of the best accounts. 

3. Phillips — Genesis of Number Forms — American 
Journal of Psychology, volume 8,, p. 506-527. Gives many 
forms. Says seven per cent of all persons have them. 

4. Buchner — Fixed Visualization — American Journal of 
Psychology, volume 13, p. 255 (Number Forms and Calendars). 
A very good description of the forms experienced by a single 
subject. 

5. Lillian H. Chalmers — Studies in Imagination. Peda- 
gogical Seminary, volume 7, p. 117. Some figures are given. 

6. Stratton — Experimental Psychology. P. 252-3. A 
brief notice. Two figures are given. 



CHAPTER VI 

MENTAL CALENDARS AND ALPHABET FORMS 

A phenomenon very similar to that of number forms is 
found in Mental Calendars. Some persons have a definite, fixed 
method of imaging the months of the year and the days of the 
week. They are unable to explain the origin or the occasion 
for these mental calendars, which are generally more or less 
useful. An examination of a few cases will disclose the gen- 
eral nature of the phenomena. 

Miss Minna W. always sees the months of the year located 
on a vertical circle, just in front of her, and about two feet in 
diameter. January is located at the top of the circle, February 
is at the left of January, and the other months are distributed 
at about equal intervals around the circumference of the circle. 
The months run counter-clockwise. Whenever any month is 
mentioned,, she always sees the month located in its proper 
place in the figure. 

Similarly, Miss Bertha S. has a mental calendar consisting 
of the months arranged on a circle. But in this case, the circle 
is horizontal, and the months run clockwise, with January 
nearest to her. The circle is definitely located with reference 
to the person, being directly in front of her. 

Miss Mira F. has a mental calendar, which is also a circle, 
about as large as the "top of a bushel basket." It is vertical, 
perpendicular to the line of sight, but is located toward the 
right hand, instead of being directly in front. 

Another variation of the position of the circular calendar 
is found in the one described by Miss Maude R., who describes 
the months as located on a circle, with January nearest to her, 
and the months running counter clockwise. Instead of being 
horizontal, the circle is tilted downward toward the left. 

In all the cases referred to above, the circle has been 
rather small, easily managed, but the size varies considerably. 
Thus Miss Florence J. has a calendar that is a very large circle, 
so large that it would take her a year to walk around it. She 
is located at the center of the circle, and the months run count- 
er clockwise. Another young woman describes the circle of iier 
calendar as being large enough to reach all around the city in 
which she is living. 



MENTAL CALENDARS AND ALPHABET FORMS 61 

The calendar of Miss Marjorie S. presents an interesting 
variation in circular calendars. Miss S.'s calendar is a hori- 
zontal circle, just in front of her, with the months running 
clockwise, and about evenly distributed around its circumfer- 
ence. The noticeable thing about this calendar, however, is 
the fact that each month is represented by a group of six- 
pointed stars. Every month except February consists of a 
group of five such stars, while February has only four. Miss S. 
describes the circle as about two feet in diameter. 

But the calendar is not always conceived as a circle. That 
seems to be the most common form, and we may associate it in 
some way with many pictures in almanacs, in which the 
months are so arranged. But such an explanation will not ac- 
count for the peculiar shapes and variations that many mental 
calendars assume. Thus Miss Marjorie V. has a mental cal- 
endar that assumes the general shape of a square, with the 
right hand upper corner cut off. The months run clockwise, 
with January near the upper right hand corner. 

Miss Florence S. has a calendar consisting of an elongated 
oval, with the longest axis of the oval pointing away from her. 
January is near the middle of the right side, and the months 
run counter clockwise. 

In several cases the calendar is a semicircle. Thus Miss 
Ethel G. describes her calendar as consisting of a semicircle 
with the diameter horizontal and extending from left to right. 
The circumference is convex upward, and January is at the 
left. Similarly, Miss Etta G. has a calendar consisting of a 
semicircle in which the diameter projects straight out in front 
of her, and January is farthest from her, with December 
nearest. 

Many times the calendar consists of merely a straight line. 
Thus Miss Genevra W. experiences the months arranged m a 
straight line extending away from her toward the right and 
upward. Mr. Fred F. always sees the months arranged in a 
straight line extending downward and toward the right, except 
that July and August occupy the two sides of a sharply acute 
angle extending toward the right. 

Miss Marian B. has a calendar that presents another var- 
iation. The months are arranged along a line that is distinctly 
spiral, with April at the center, and the months very unevenly 



62 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE III. 

Fig. 1.— Monthly Calendar of Mina W. 
Fig. 2.— Monthly Calendar of Ethel G. 
Fig. 3. — Monthly Calendar of Marjorie S. 
Fig. 4. — Weekly Calendar of Marjorie S. This represents 
the star of which the groups of stars in Fig. 4 are composed. 
Fig. 5. — Monthly Calendar of Marian B. 
Fig. 6. — Hourly Calendar of Marguerite S. 
Fig. 7.— Weekly Calendar of Hetta F. 
Fig. 8. — Chronological Figure of Fred F. 



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64 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

distributed along its course. In this figure the line is distinct- 
ly seen, and along a large part of its course, no months are 
located, while the months are not serially arranged. December 
is at the extremity of the spiral, April is at the center, and 
January and November are in proximity. It would seem al- 
most as if we might describe the figure as having two branches. 

In some cases, even when the general shape of the calendar 
is a circle, the months are not symmetrically placed. Thus 
Miss Ida F. has a circular calendar which is vertically placed 
in front of her, with January at the top and August at the 
bottom. One side of the circle contains eight of the months 
and the other half only four. 

In nearly every case, there is a definite location for the 
calendar, whatever its shape may be; but the location of the 
person with reference to the figure varies greatly. In the 
cases described above, the person has been located in front of 
the figure, to one side of it, or in the center, and we may dis- 
cover another variation. Miss Myrtle H. has a calendar that 
consists of a circle about on a level with her waist, and the 
circumference of the circle runs through her body. January 
is at her right, and the months run coounter clockwise. 

WEEKLY CALENDARS 

In all the cases described above, the calendar has been one 
for the months. But many persons have similar calendars for 
the days of the week. Miss Marjorie V. describes her calendar 
for the week as consisting of a series of four straight lines, 
joined at obtuse angles with Sunday at the right, and the first 
horizontal line carrying the days from Sunday to Wednesday. 
The next line joins the first with a downward slant, and carries 
the days Thursday and Friday. The third line continues the 
horizontal direction and bears Saturday, while the fourth line, 
on which Sunday is located, turns upward. 

Miss Leona H. has a calendar that is a horizontal circle 
with Sunday at the right near herself, while the days run 
couonter clockwise, with Saturday at her left. 

Miss Genevra W. has a calendar that is circular, approxi- 
mately horizontal, and in front of her, but considerably in- 
clined toward the right. The quite unusual thing about this 
calendar is that the days have each a marked day form. The 



MENTAL CALENDARS AND ALPHABET FORMS 65 

days are arranged on the circumference of the circle, but each 
day consists of a circular part, which is the night, and a hook 
bent twice at right angles which represents the day. The cir- 
cular nights are placed toward the outside of the week circle. 

This figure illustrates very satisfactorily the definiteness 
with which the days and the weeks are imaged. Another ex- 
ample will exemplify the same characteristic. Miss Maude R. 
has a calendar for the week that may best be described by say- 
ing that it is a rectangle with the angles rounded, except the 
upper left hand corner, which is sharp. The figure is vertical- 
ly placed, and is about as high as her shoulder. Monday is lo- 
cated at the upper left hand corner, and the days run clock- 
wise. 

Miss Hetta F. has a calendar for the week that consists of 
a combination of straight line segments and curves, extending 
in a generally horizontal direction toward the left. Each day 
is located on its own segment, and Saturday night and Sunday 
night have each their own segments, which are vertical. She 
does not know why Saturday night and Sunday night are dif- 
ferentiated from their corresponding days, when none of the 
other nights are,, but the description of this peculiarity always 
provokes audible amusement in the class. 

This differentiation of nights and days is carried to its 
natural limit in the calendar of Miss Margaret McG. Her cal- 
endar consists of fourteen straight lines connected at their ex- 
tremities so as to form a series of V-shaped angles, the angles 
being at the top and bottom. The nights are located at the top 
in a straight horizontal position, and the mornings are located 
at the bottom, with a straight line connecting each night with 
its corresponding antecedent and subsequent morning. These 
mornings are in a straight horizontal position, except Friday, 
Saturday, and Sunday. The lines connecting the nights and 
mornings of these days are longer than the others, and Miss 
McG. suggests that it may be associated with the fact that Sat- 
urday and Sunday are school holidays. 

Miss Tidy P. describes a weekly calendar that contains one 
element which is not found in any of the others, and which 
might probably make its description be placed more appro- 
priately with another series of phenomena. Her calendar con- 
sists of a series of seven circles of solid color. The first one at 



66 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

the left is Monday. It is a solid circle of greenish blue. The 
next circle toward the right is Tuesday, which is yellow. Wed- 
nesday is red with a black spot in the center. Thursday is 
yellow. Friday is green, Saturday is white,, Sunday is purple 
or black. Miss P. supposed that everybody saw the days of the 
week in just this shape, and with identical colors, and her first 
knowledge that others did not have the same experience came 
from the investigation originating in the class. 

HOURLY CALENDAR 

In a few cases, there has been discovered a calendar for 
the hours of the day. Miss Marjorie V., who images nearly 
everything in visual experiences, describes a daily calendar. 
This consists of a series of seven straight lines joined together 
at angles to constitute a broken line extending toward the 
right and upward. The first segment is horizontal and carries 
the hours from 1 in the morning to 10. The next segment car- 
ries the hours from 10 to 12 and extends to the right and up- 
ward about 45 degrees. Each succeeding segment is alternate- 
ly horizontal and upward about 45 degrees, bearing the time 
of about two hours. 

Miss Marguerite S. has a calendar for the hours of the 
day. It is an irregular figure, placed horizontally and she finds 
herself standing within its outlines. The calendar begins at 
twelve o'clock, noon, passing toward the right,, clockwise, and 
she feels herself to be standing near the six o'clock position. 
The numbers on it are of different degrees of brightness. The 
hours of the day are bright, and the hours of the night are 
dark. 

Very similar to these mental calendars is a chronological 
calendar, which may be illustrated by a very, complete one re- 
ported by Mr. Fred F. Mr. F. remembers dates in history 
very satisfactorily by the aid of a historical calendar. The 
dates from 700 B. C. to 410 are located on a line beginning at 
the right and extending upward and toward the left. From 
410 B. C. to the dates are locatecj on a line that makes a 
curve downward and toward the left. From to 1400 A. D. 
the dates are located on a curve extending toward the left and 
upward, concave above. From 1400 to 1492 the dates are on a 
straight line that continues the general direction of the figure. 



MENTAL CALENDARS AND ALPHABET FORMS 67 

Then another curve, concave above, carries the dates from 
1492 to 1500. The four hundred years from 1500 to 1900 are 
carried on four parallel curves, one above another, and corres- 
ponding to the left hand side of the figure. From 1900 to 1911, 
the numbers are borne on a compound curve composed of two 
elements, 1904 and 1908 being at the upper nodes of the curve, 
and 1906 and 1911 being at the lower nodes. 

There seems to be no possibility of accounting for the 
forms that these mental calendars assume, nor indeed for the 
fact that some persons experience them while others do not. 
The only thing that can be gained from their study is that 
some persons have these psychological experiences and find 
them to be very helpful in some of their mental processes. 
While it is impossible to reduce the various kinds to systems, 
their great variety will show us that we must not expect to 
teach children by imposing upon them plans and methods of 
teaching that rest upon the assumption that all children possess 
them, can develop them, or may employ any particular kind. 
Here as everywhere, individual peculiarities of children must 
be taken into account, if we are to deal with them wisely, and 
the more we can learn of these individual peculiarities, the less 
we shall be inclined to treat children as beings cast into one 
common mold. 

The number of persons who experience mental calendars 
is in the aggregate very great, but the proportion of those that 
have been ascertained is comparatively small. The above con- 
clusions have been derived from a study of about fifty cases, 
collected from about eight .hundred students. This would seem 
to imply that mental calendars can scarcely be anticipated 
from more than six per cent of the people. It is probable that 
this proportion is too small, and that a more careful search 
would disclose a greater number. 

ALPHABET FORMS 

A phenomenon very similar to that of number forms is 
found in what may by analogy be called alphabet forms. 
Nearly everybody learns the alphabet sometime, and some 
persons have particular ways of holding it in mind. Thus Miss 
Hetta F. has a very definite form for the letters of the alpha- 
bet. The letters are always imaged or seen in a very complex 



68 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE IV. 

Fig. 1. — Weekly Calendar of Genevra W. Note the shape 
of the days. 

Fig. 2. — Alphabet form of Genevra W. 

Fig. 3.— Alphabet form of Mabel P. 

Fig. 4. — Alphabet form of Irene S. 

Fig. 5.— Alphabet form of Hetta F. 






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70 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

line, consisting of a series of compound curves running down- 
ward and toward the right. The figure is copied from a draw- 
ing that Miss F. made herself, and is a very definite and posi- 
tive statement of the form. Miss F. describes the alphabet as 
being experienced with a great deal of vividness, and says that 
she invariably sees any letter that is mentioned as located in 
this line. 

Mr. Fred F. also has a very definite manner of imaging the 
alphabet. His alphabet form consists of a combination of a 
series of curves and broken lines joined at various angles, but 
the general direction being approximately horizontal, and ex- 
tending from the left toward the right. 

Miss Marjorie V. describes an alphabet form in which the 
letters are seen arranged along a series of straight lines joined 
at various angles, beginning at the left and extending toward 
the right. The letters are not equally distributed along the 
lines, but in some sections are much more closely crowded to- 
gether than in other parts of the form. 

Miss Mabel P. sees the letters of the alphabet arranged 
along a line which in its shape, reminds one of a greatly en- 
larged figure 6. The bottom part of the 6 has no letters, and 
1 is at the left of this vacant space with m at the right. 

Miss Irene S. images the letters in the form of a spiral, 
beginning at her left and running around her clockwise. She 
stands near the center of the spiral, and z is nearest to her 
on her left. The position that she assumes with reference to 
the spiral is facing north. 

The alphabet form of Miss Genevra W. differs from those 
described above, and is equally definite and exact. . Miss W.'s 
alphabet form takes the shape of a horseshoe. The horseshoe 
is almost in front of her and about as high as her waist. The 
bars of the shoe are turned away from her with "a" at the 
right hand end of the bar; n, o, p, are nearest to her, and z 
is at the left hand end of the bar not very far from a. 

The testimony of every person who describes an alphabet 
form asserts the definiteness and clearness with which the 
letters are seen, and the invariableness of the figure. None of 
them is able to suggest v/hen nor how the figure assumed its 
present form, but all of them testify to the advantage that 



MENTAL CALENDARS AND ALPHABET FORMS 71 

comes from using the figure in remembering things that are 
associated with the letters. 

In several of the examples adduced above, it will be seen 
that the general direction of the form is from the left toward 
the right. As this is the direction in which we read, we may 
be inclined to suppose that it is this fact which has determined 
the general direction that the alphabet lines take. Beyond 
this, we have no way of suggesting any reason for the shape 
of the form, nor why some persons have alphabet forms while 
others do not. 



CHAPTER VII 

CHROMOESTHESIA 

The present chapter treats of a phenomenon of individual 
experience which is known by the name of chromoesthesia, or 
colored hearing. It is a phenomenon which was first brought 
conspicuously to the notice by Psychologists by Francis 
Galton, and more particularly popularized in this country 
by the personal experiences of President David Starr Jordan, 
who published his personal account in the Popular Science 
Monthly for July, 1891. The phenomena are well known to 
psychologists, although a knowledge of it has penetrated into 
the common knowledge of the people so little that we some- 
times observe in newspapers an account of a single case, her- 
alded as an extraordinary manifestation of supernatural phe- 
nomena, baffling to science, and unexplainable by any hypo- 
thesis that scientific men are willing to recognize. 

We may best understand the phenomena by an examina- 
tion of several particular instances: The case of Miss Dorothy 
D. is very typical, and involves nearly all the characteristics 
that are to be found in a majority of cases. Miss D. says 
that she experiences color sensations when she hears the names 
of any letters of the alphabet. When she reads,, or hears, the 
letter a, she experiences the same sensation that she would 
experience if she were looking at a pink object. The letter b 
arouses in her a sensation of brown; c is white; d is black; e is 
blue; f is light gray; g is green; h is pink, although of a dif- 
ferent shade from a; i has no color; j is gray, but of a differ- 
ent shade from f; k is lavender; 1 is yellow; m is brown; n is 
tan; o is white; p is a kind of vivid pink; q is brown; r is 
bright pink; s is grayish white; t is dark gray; u is greenish 
gray; v is lavender; z is brown. Some names appear to furn- 
ish a color sensation, but in nearly every case, the name seems 
to take its color from the initial letter. Her own name, Dor- 
othy, is black and white, which constitutes the color sensations 
aroused by the two letters that are conspicuous in it; d, the 
black, and o, the white. 

Miss D. furnishes also another bit of testimony which is 
significant in the theory by which these color sensations can 
be explained. She says that sometimes it is the letter that 



CHROMOESTHESIA 73 

furnishes the sensation of color, and sometimes it is the back- 
ground. R is a white letter on a background of pink. A is a 
pink letter without any background. 

That the letters of the alphabet should be colored is a very 
common experience. Or, if we wish to speak accurately, that 
the sound of the letters should arouse color sensations, is very 
common. Miss Blanche C has a very pronounced case of color- 
ed hearing. The sound of the letter a always arouses in her 
the sensation of white; b is blue; d is dark brown; g is gray; 
i is black; 1 is black; m is black; o is yellow; p is pink; r is 
red; s is red; t is brown; u is blue; v is pink; w is olive; x is 
red; y is yellow. Other letters have no color. 

It is significant in this case that so many of the letters 
are the initials of the words that represent the color sensations 
aroused by the letters themselves. Thus b, d, g, p, r, y, are all 
of them the initials of the words used in describing the sensa- 
tions of color, while u is the most conspicuous sound in the 
word blue, which is its concomitant color sensation. 

Miss C. also experiences color sensations when she hears 
the names of the months. March is red; August is white; 
September is yellow; the other months are not colored. Sun- 
day is yellow; Monday is black. Some names are colored, al- 
though not nearly all. Her own name, Blanche, is blue. This 
is rather unexpected, for we find in a good many cases that 
the name which is significant of a color, is likely to be experi- 
enced in that color. In a majority of cases of colored hearing, 
the name Blanche is likely to arouse the sensation white. Sim- 
ilarly, in a majority of cases, when the days of the week arouse 
the sensations of color, Monday is likely is be colored blue. 

Another very exceptional statement of Miss C, which is 
important because of its exceptional character, is the fact that 
in her experience, the less familiar names are likely to be col- 
ored,, while the more familiar are likely not to have any color. 
This experience has occurred ever since her earliest recollec- 
tions. 

To show the definiteness of the color sensation, and its 
lack of dependence upon teaching, we may examine the report 
of Miss Leona H. who has a very pronounced experience with 
colored hearing. Miss H. reports that the sounds of nearly all 
the letters arouse in her the sensations of color. Thus a is red; 



74 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

b is light green; c is cement color; d is yellowish brown; e is a 
pinkish yellow; f is a peculiar coolor, something like the color 
of the blackboard, but bluer, although not quite blue. This is 
a color for which she has no name, although it is very distinct, 
and appears in connection with several auditory symbols. It 
appears on inquiry, that she once had a German dictionary 
which was exactly the color described under f . 

G is dark brown; h is yellowish brown; i is white with 
black lines around it; j apparently has no color; k is like f; 
1 is white; m is a dark blue; n is light brown; o is white; p is 
green; q is a kind of funny yellow; r is blue; s is slate color; 
t is yellow; u is black; v is green; w is dark brown; x has no 
color; y is yellow; z has no color. 

An examination of the colors aroused by the different let- 
ters in the three cases described above, will show that there is 
no uniformity in the color sensations aroused by the same let- 
ter. Thus in the three cases, a is white, pint and red; b is 
light green, brown, and blue. So it is perfectly evident that 
the color sensation connected with hearing is not a natural or 
systematic affair, but a wholly individual acquisition, arising 
from some experience in the life of the individual herself. 

In Miss H's case, nearly all words are colored, and it seems 
that the initial letter gives color to the whole word, although 
this rule is not invariable. The names of the months are all 
colored. January is that blackboard color like f and k; February 
is bluish green; March is like f and k; April is red; May is 
like f and k; June is slate color; August is red; September is 
a dirty white; October is pure white; November is brown; 
December is yellow. 

The days of the week are all colored. Sunday is white; 
Monday is light blue; Tuesday is yellow; Wednesday is brown; 
Thursday is yellow; Friday is red; Saturday is slate color. 

Nearly all names are colored. Thus Annie is red; Harold 
is reddish brown; Florence is like f and k; Bernice is green; 
Charlotte is light blue; Edith is light yellow; Irene is white 
with black lines around it; Mae is like f and k; Blanche is 
green. Every name is colored, and the examples above are 
merely the colors applied to the names on my class list taken 
down in order. 

Names of all states and countries are colored. There is in 



CHROMOESTHESIA 75 

some things more or less of a variation. While nearly every 
word has a constant color, some words will appear at times in 
one color, and again in another. 

Miss H. testifies that this color phenomenon has been an 
experience with her ever since she can remember anything. 
When a child, she had a set of colored blocks of various colors, 
and she believes that the reason that i is white with black lines 
around it is because the letter i on her set of blocks was a 
white block with a black letter. 

The above cases may be called the typical cases. They 
represent a degree of color sensation with almost every letter 
and word. All variations of colored hearing may be found be- 
tween these elaborate experiences and that of the person who 
has no color sensation at all when hearing words. Thus Miss 
Mary P. says that the sound of the letter always arouses in 
her the sensation of yellow. No other letter and no other word 
has any such effect. So Miss G. has a single experience. The 
name Mabel always appears purple to her, and no other name 
or sound has any color association. With Miss Faye P. the 
letter always arouses the sensation of black, and the month 
January is always white. No other words have any corre- 
sponding effect. 

Miss Marjorie W. experiences color sensations upon hear- 
ing four letters; r is always red; o is ydllow; x is black, and 
f is blue. 

It is seldom that we can discover any fact that would in- 
dicate anything about the time of the beginning of these ex- 
periences, but the following are two very instructive examples. 
Miss Ida P. says that she formerly experienced a sensation of 
color when she heard words, but that she no longer does so. 
She has forgotten nearly all the colors that pertained to the 
different words, but remembers that all the letters of the al- 
phabet were colored, and that e was yellow. She has forgotten 
what were the colors of the other letters. All names appeared 
to her in color. She states that there was no shape to the 
names of the letters, but when she heard them she experienced 
a vivid sensation of color. She knows that when she was ten 
years old, she had these experiences, and thinks that they per- 
sisted for two or three years afterward. 

Miss P. had a sister who also experienced color sensations 



76 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

when she heard letters and words,, and the two girls would fre- 
quently play games with the colors of words;. They would ask 
each other the colors of particular names and words, and she 
remembers that they did not agree upon the colors they experi- 
enced when the different letters and words were heard. 

We may contrast the above account with the following: 
Miss Ethelyn W. experiences the sensation of red whenever she 
hears the letter a. Any word that contains a is red, although 
it sometimes is the case, that while the a in the word is red, 
the rest of the word is green. S is white; r is red; y is yellow; 
and o is white. Words containing these -letters are colored, but 
no other words. 

The rest of the statement of Miss W is quite unusual. She 
says that these color sensations began to be experienced about 
the time that she was fourteen years old. She has had, there- 
fore, experiences with the perception of these letters when 
they were not colored, as well as after they became so. Her 
case is a direct contrast with that of Miss P. who has changed 
from a condition where she perceives the letters as colored to 
one in which she does not. These two conflicting cases render 
any possible explanation of the phenomena very difficult. 

"When two letters of different colors appear in the word, 
the influence of the color of the two upon the color of the word 
is noticeable in many cases. In the example mentioned above, 
sometimes a part of the word is colored green in consequence 
of its complementary relation to the color of the dominant let- 
ter in the word, a, which is red. But we have clear testimony 
to another effect in the following example: 

Miss Alta M. manifests the phenomena of colored hearing 
in a high degree. Nearly all of the letters of the alphabet are 
colored. A is white or yellow, sometimes one color and some- 
times the other; b is red; c has no color; e is red; f is brown; 
g is green; h is gray; i is light, either white or yellow; j is 
brown; k is like j. Practically every letter gives its own sen- 
sation of color. 

Words take their color from the color of the letters. The 
initial letter seems to have the greater influence upon the color 
of the word. The word Earl is of a reddish, or pinkish color, 
seeming to have its color determined by the combined effect of 
the first two letters. The white of the a seems to modify the 



CHROMOESTHESIA 77 

red of the e. The letters r and 1 seem to have no effect upon 
the color of the word. 

The names of the months are nearly all colored. January 
is brown; September is golden yellow; March is purple. Feb- 
ruary has no color; April is light, and May is reddish; June is 
gray, the u in the word seeming to give color to the word. 
July is grayish brown, the j in the word seeming to modify the 
effect of the u. 

Every day in the week has its own color. Sunday is yel- 
low. Practically every name is colored. Agnes is white; Ber- 
tha is purple; Nola is brown; Loretta is bluish black. 

A very large proportion of the persons who have related 
their experiences are surprised to find that other persons do 
not have the same experience. They have expressed surprise 
when informed that other persons do not hear the same things 
in color. One young man is pleased with names of one color, 
and not with names of another codor, and his preference for 
persons is quite largely determined by the color of their names. 
Another person, a young lady, expressed wonder about how 
persons who had no color sensations from names could remem- 
ber who persons were, or how they could distinguish their 
names. All of these suggestions go to show the individual 
characteristic of the experience, as wel! as the extreme im- 
portance of it to the individual. They also show how necessary 
it is for parents and teachers to have a knowledge that such 
experiences occur in the children under their care. 

Two possible explanations of this phenomenon of colored 
hearing have been offered. We know that the brain is com- 
posed of a large number of separate cells, or brain units called 
neurons. We know also that no mental process of any kind is 
ever experienced unless a nervous impulse passes through some 
combination of neurons. This nervous impulse is some kind of a 
molecular change in the substance of the neurons, and it ap- 
pears that the essential part of the nervous impulse is the 
transmission from one neuron to another. 

Also, we know that the different combinations of neurons 
are not all alike. We know that when a nervous impulse 
paasses through one combination of neurons, it may accompany 
one kind of a mental process, and when it passes through an 
other combination of neurons, a different mental process is 



78 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

experienced. When we experience a sensation of sound, a ner- 
vous impulse passes through a certain combination of neurons, 
and when we experience a sensation of color, the impulse trav- 
erses a different combination. 

The first explanation of colored hearing rests upon the 
supposition that in some persons, the separation and differen- 
tiation of color neurons from the hearing neurons has not 
been complete, but that the two are so combined that the same 
impulse traverses both, as a result of this lack of differentia- 
tion. There seems to be very little ground for making this 
supposition, and it is incapable of explaining some of the cases 
adduced above. 

The other hypothesis rests upon a physiological law known 
as the law of the attraction of the impulse. That law may be 
stated as follows: When two impulses are established in the 
brain at the same time, they tend to run together and to con- 
stitute a single impulse. 

Also another physiological law is involved in the explana- 
tion, which is called the law of neural habit. This law may be 
stated by saying that when a nervous impulse traverses a 
combination of neurons, it modifies the combination, or brain 
center, so as to diminish the resistance, and to render the path- 
way more easy of access to the impulse. 

Now we may suppose that a child has experienced the 
sound sensation of the letter, or the word, or the name, and at 
the same time has experienced the color sensation. These two 
impulses combine, and traverse the connection between the 
two brain centers. Suppose the letter to be printed in black. 
The sound of the 0, and the color black, are experienced at the 
same time. The two impulses, started in two different und 
organs and traversing two different sensation centers, com- 
bine, and run together, marking out a pathway between the 
two centers. Subsequently, an impulse started by the sound 
center will traverse the center corresponding to the sound 0, 
and then,, finding the resistance slight, will pass over into the 
color center for the sensation of black. Similarly, if a child 
becomes acquainted with a girl whose name she hears is 
Jane, who wears a pink dress, ever afterward, the impulse 
that traverses the brain center that was first traversed when 
she heard the name Jane, is likely to flow over into the pink 



CHROMOESTHESIA 79 

center, when the name Jane is heard and an impulse started 
in the Jane center. 

This hypothesis will explain practically every case de- 
scribed above. It is so simple that it may need more or less 
modification to meet all cases, for the phenomena are much 
more complex than would appear from the explanation given. 
However, this answers very satisfactorily for a working hypo- 
thesis. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. W. 0. Krohn — Pseudochromoethesia. American Jour- 
nal of Psychology, volume 5, p. 20. 

About our best article on the subject. Quite a history of 
it. First mentioned by Goethe in 1810. Refers to a writing 
by Hoffman in 1786. Gives a long bibliography. 

2. Galton — Inquiries Into Human Faculty. Page 305- 
112. (Everyman Edition). One of the best references. 

3. Calkins — Statistical Study of Pseudochromoesthesia. 
American Journal of Psychology,, volume 5, p. 439. Rather an 
important study. 

4. David Starr Jordan — Colors of Letters. Popular 
Science Monthly, volume 39, 1891, July. 



CHAPTER VIII 



SYNESTHESIA. 

Chromoesthesia, or colored audition, or colored hearing, is 
a special example of a general phenomenon. Chromoesthesia is 
an example of the association of a hearing sensation with a 
color sensation. But almost any two kinds of sensations may 
be associated, so that when one is experienced, the other will 
be aroused. The name for this entire class of phenomena is 
synesthesia. 

Color and taste are very commonly associated. Thus Miss 
Lillie C. always experiences the sensation of green whenever 
she tastes anything sour. Also, when she hears the name of 
anything that is sweet, she experiences a reddish sensation of 
color. In this case it appears that the green color is associated 
with the taste, while the reddish color is associated with the 
hearing, although the thing heard must be known as sweet. 

Miss Emily B. experiences a sensation of taste whenever 
she hears the names of some of the months. Thus September 
has a slightly sweet taste; March is bitter. 

Mr. J. J. J. experiences a very clear and decided sweet 
sensation whenever he hears the name April. 

Miss Olga M. experiences a rather vivid sensation of bright 
color, not quite red, whenever she tastes anything sour. The 
taste of anything sweet arouses a distinct sensation of blue. 
Bitter is a brightly tinted red. In this case, the color sensation 
is aroused by the taste, and not by hearing of the word denot- 
ing the taste. 

Another example illustrating the same thing is that cf 
Miss Teresa K. who testifies that she experiences a' positive 
sensation of green whenever she tastes anything that is sour. 
She asserts that there can be no question of the fact, because 
of its vividness. 

But other sensations than those of color and taste may be 
so associated that an experience with one will arouse the other. 
Miss Dessie I. reports that she experiences a distinct sensation 
of warmth whenever she hears the letter r. The sensation is 
quite noticeable, and she feels very confident that there is no 
chance for her to be mistaken in the fact. 

Besides the simple sensations of sound and color, taste and 



SYNESTHESIA 81 

color, there are many other kinds of sensations that become as- 
sociated so that when one is experienced, it will call up the 
other. As would be anticipated, these associations are of the 
most diverse character. Thus we may experience the sensation 
of brightness, or light and dark, as distinguished from color. 
Miss Edna S. experiences a decided sensation of black whenever 
she hears slow music. To her, slow music is black. She seems 
to have no other associations of different sensations. 

Miss Grace T., however, reports that lively music is always 
light, while slow and loud music is dark. In very much the 
same manner, Miss Tacy A. always hears slow strains as blue. 
They are never pink, while classical music is always pink. She 
supposed, until I made inquiries of her, that everybody heard 
music in that way. Also, Miss Marie McC. experiences sensa- 
tions of brightness, not color, in connection with names. Thus 
Edith is always dark; Madge is light; Nora is dark. 

Of a similar nature, although differing in considerable de- 
gree, is the experience of Mr. Floyd E. Whenever he hears the 
letter R, he always experiences the sensations of a chord m 
music. Names of persons that contain the letter R induce in 
him the same sensation, and he decidedly prefers such names. 
The experience may be described by saying that the letter R 
induces in him the sensation of the chord of music, or that it 
gives him the same emotional experience that the strain of 
music would give. 

More complex, and less easy to understand, or to explain, 
are some other synesthetic experiences, in which the materials 
associated are more complex than the sensations previously de- 
scribed. Miss Mira M. distinguishes names by their form. She 
illustrates by the similar names Gertie and Gertrude. The two 
names are recognized under the form of two lines, nearly par- 
allel. Gertrude is experienced as a line with a series of waves. 
Gertie is a similar line, extending in almost the same direction, 
but the waves are shorter and of greater amplitude. 

Miss Frances H. always recognizes the long letters like 
f and b as tall persons. A somewhat similar association is ex- 
perienced in the case of numbers. Especially is this true with 
6 and 8. Whenever 6 is subtracted from 8, her conception of 
the process is that the numbers are engaged in a conspiracy, of 
which 8 is the victim. 



82 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Miss Clare 0. also associates numbers with various human 
characteristics. 2 always fights with 3* Among the other 
numbers, there is no definite dueling, but all of them seem to 
engage in a general melee. However, each number has its own 
characteristic qualities. Thus 3 is timid; 5 is a rocking chair; 
2 is impertinent. This association may be described by saying 
that the same idea, or the same feeling, is aroused by the num- 
ber that is aroused by the quality which the adjective ex- 
presses. 

A somewhat similar association is that which is experi- 
enced by Miss Geneva S. with the letters of the alphabet. 3ach 
letter has its own personal characteristics. This is especially 
noticeable when the letters constitute the initials of given 
names. An initial on the wrong person is very annoying to 
her. C is dainty and "Frenchy." D is stubborn and phleg- 
matic. H is elusive and ephemeral. L is smooth and deceitful; 
M is soothing and maternal. is comical and "giggly." Q is 
eccentric. 

Miss Sadie M. experiences a different kind of association 
with numbers. Every number up to fifteen is associated with 
color, but is experienced in a different way from most of the 
examples that have been given with numbers and letters. In- 
stead of visualizing the number as a digit with color, Miss M. 
experiences the number as a series of dots of red and blue. 
The red dots always precede the blue, and the sum of the dots 
is the number expressed by the digit. Thus 4 brings about an 
experience of two red dots and two blue dots. The figure 7 
represents four red and three blue. 

The example of Miss M. is very similar to that of Miss 
Edith W. whose experience might be grouped with number 
forms, rather than with synesthetic experiences. Each number 
appears to Miss W. as a series of dots, dark in appearance, and 
she must see the series of dots before the number idea occurs. 
Thus 7 consists of a series of dots, three in one row, three in a 
row just below the first, and one below the two rows of six, 
Eight appears as eight dots in two rows. Sixteen is represent- 
ed by two series of eight dots each, one series above the other. 

Miss W. believes that this method of visualizing numbers 
is decidedly disadvantageous to her. She finds it difficult to 



SYNESTHESIA 83 

work with numbers, and she wishes that she had some other 
way of thinking of them. 

The suggestion is at least reasonable that this method of 
imaging numbers had its origin in the teaching of some over 
enthusiastic teacher, in her desire to make the work concrete, 
and teaching numbers according to the ideas of the old Grube 
method, established an injurious association which it is im- 
possible to get rid of. 

So also, it may be that Miss Sadie M. was taught the early 
ideas of number by a teacher who employed colored crayon to 
make the marks which were the concrete symbols of numbers 
from which the child derived her ideas. 

Of a somewhat different class of associations is the one de- 
scribed by Miss Mary S. who testifies that whenever there is a 
winter storm and the wind shrieks and howls outside, she ex- 
periences a feeling of being in a castle hall, with a wide fire- 
place and a long table, the furniture quite rude, and the castle 
walls very high. Every time the experience occurs, it is the 
same castle and the scene is identical in every respect. 

It will be seen from the above examples how varied and 
how different are the mental experiences of children. It is 
with these different materials that a teacher has to work, and 
to elaborate out of them the same general laws for teaching. 
In learning to read, and in learning arithmetic, the children 
are supposed to be learning the same things; but the materials 
out of which they construct the system of thought that is em- 
bodied in the subject are as varied as the children themselves, 
and this merely emphasizes the difficulty that the teacher en- 
counters. A knowledge of the various mental processes em- 
ployed in thinking the elementary associations will enable the 
teacher sometimes to explain her failures, that otherwise would 
seem unaccountable. 

The fact of early association will in every case explain the 
apparent mystery involved in these synesthetic experiences. 
They may be designated as queer, erratic, morbid, mysterious, 
abnormal; and a mystical, supernatural, spiritualistic explana- 
tion be suggested for them. But in every case, where we are 
able to penetrate sufficiently into the early experiences of the 
children, we shall find a perfectly natural and clear explanation 
for the phenomena. They are mysterious only because they 



84 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

are individual. The mystery appears only because children 
are not alike. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. June Downey — Colored Gustation. American Journal 
of Psychology, volume 22, p, 525-539. 

2. A. H. Pierce — Gustatory Audition. American Journal 
of Psychology, volume 18, p. 341^352. 

3. Leroy C. Day — Alphabet Friendships. Pedagogical 
Seminary, volume 21, p. 321. 

4. Margaret C. Whiting — Individuality of Numbers. 
Pedagogical Seminary, volume 2, p. 106. A good article, re- 
lating Miss Whiting's own experience. 

5. G. M. Whipple — Two Cases of Synesthesia. American 
Journal of Psychology, volume 11, p. 377. An elaborate study 
of two cases. Valuable as showing the method. Says pain, 
pressure, and temperature have not before been recorded in 
synesthetic associations. 

6. K. B. Rose — Synesthesia. American Journal of Psy- 
chology, volume 20, p. 447. A statistical study of the number 
of persons who experience synesthesia. 



CHAPTER IX 



ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN 

Children do not learn to talk. They begin to talk as the 
result of the development of an instinct. By this statement 
we mean that if two or more children were brought up in such 
a manner that they might never have heard a word of spoken 
language, nevertheless, they would begin to communicate with 
each other by means of articulate speech. 

The child, and human beings in general, use articulate 
speech as a means of communication, because they have a 
speech center in the brain. This speech center is in nearly all 
cases, on the left side of the brain, just above the fissure of 
Sylvius. An injury to the brain in just this spot will invari- 
ably produce an inability to speak; while a similar injury in 
the corresponding spot on the right side of the brain will not 
diminish the speaking ability. 

This portion of the brain is called the speech center, be- 
cause, whenever a person speaks, a nervous impulse is travers- 
ing some combination of cells in this portion. It is true, that 
other portions of the brain are connected with this part, and 
an injury to those other portions will modify the ability to 
speak in various ways; but an injury to this portion will com- 
pletely destroy the ability to speak. 

The speech center becomes organized as the result of a 
tendency to grow and organize, not as the result of experience. 
Without any speech, the brain center would become organized 
so that impulses would be able to traverse its cell combinations. 

Speech is not necessarily a measure of intelligence. A dog 
or a horse cannot speak, and never by any possibility can be- 
come able to speak, because they have no speech center. Some 
dogs have more intelligence than some men, but the men can 
speak and the dogs cannot. 

A child does not learn to talk, but he does learn a language. 
He has an instinct to speak, and as soon as the instinct de- 
velops, he will begin to talk. But he has no instinct to speak 
any particular language. There is no English language in- 
stinct, nor French language instinct, nor an instinct for any 
other language. The fact that we confuse the instinct of 
speech with the learning of the language is the occasion For 



86 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

the difficulty in understanding the processes of a child's he- 
ginning to talk. 

If children were brought up where they heard no spoken 
language, they would develop a language of their own. In our 
present complex society, where children hear one language 
every day of their lives, there is little opportunity for any 
child to develop a language of his own. Especially is this true 
when, if a language should be developed by a child, there is im- 
mediately an effort on the part of all concerned to stamp out 
his language, and to cause him to speak the language used by 
those around him. Occasionally, however, conditions are such 
that children do develop a language of their own, and the study 
of a few cases of such languages will contribute much to our 
knowledge of children. 

In the following pages, twenty-one different cases of lan- 
guages invented by children have been considered. Unfortu- 
nately, it has not been possible for the writer to study these 
cases at first hand, but reports have been examined that were 
made by persons who knew the circumstances, and were in 
position to know the children themselves. Most of those mak- 
ing them were little skilled in the observation of such phe- 
nomena. The most that can be learned from them is the fact 
that there are such languages invented by children, and the 
characteristics of the children who invent the languages, to- 
gether with the situations under which such languages develop. 

An examination of the reports made of several cases will 
disclose the chief characteristics of the development of such 
languages. The first case is one which was reported by Miss 
Ivol S. 

Miss S. reports that she lived on the adjoining farm to the 
one on which the children lived, whose language constitutes 
the subject of this report. She went to the school with the 
children, and heard the children talk with each other. The 
matter was one of serious concern to the parents and to the 
teacher, but the real significance of the phenomena did not ap- 
pear to either. 

The name of the family was R. and they lived on a farm 
near R. C, Ohio. There were six children in the family, the 
oldest of whom did not manifest the linguistic peculiarity of 
the three children next in age. The next three children were; 



ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN 87 

not widely different in age, and they were the ones in whom 
the new language appeared. The youngest two children did 
not manifest the linguistic character. 

The parents were rather taciturn persons, talked but little 
at home, and both went out to work, either in the fields of 
their own farm, or as hired help to the neighbors. The children 
were left very much to themselves at home, and visiting with 
neighbor children was not only difficult, but was forbidden and 
discouraged by the parents. All of these circumstances were 
favorable to the development of an original language. 

The children, numbers 2, 3, and 4, talked freely with each 
other, and could understand readily what each other said. 
They never talked with the parents, nor with other children, 
and these could not understand what they said when they were 
talking with each other. It was supposed by the parents that 
the children had an unfortunate defect in speech, but the real 
explanation did not occur to them. Finally, when the oldest 
of the three was seven or eight years old, they all started to 
school. Their inability to speak the language that the teacher 
and the other children employed was a source of great annoy- 
ance to the teacher. Miss Si, believes that at this time neither 
one of the children knew twenty-five words of English. 

The children talked freely with each other, and could un- 
derstand what each other said, but no one else could under- 
stand them, nor could they understand the speech of other 
persons. As soon as it was recognized that they were unable 
to speak the language of the school, efforts were made to teach 
it to them. They learned it rapidly, and soon forgot their orig- 
inal language. 

Here we have all the conditions favorable to the develop- 
ment of an original language; three children, neither of whom 
knew any language, isolated, seldom hearing any speech. Then 
when they developed a language that no one lese could under- 
stand they were thought of as having a defect in speech. 

A quite similar case is one reported by Miss Lulu M. The 
C. family, living on a farm near C. C, Michigan, consists of a 
father and mother, and eight children. Mr. and Mrs. C. are 
very hard working people with a common school education. 
Their children were left alone much of the time, and invented 
a language of their own, which they used for communicating 



88 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

with each other. All the children used this language, or did 
use it until they became old enough to "work out" in other 
communities. The general impression among the neighbors, 
when they were little children, was that they were mentally 
defective. But as soon as the children began to work in other 
communities, and learned the language of other people, it was 
found that they were mentally very quick and bright. 

In this case, the conditions were favorable for the develop- 
ment of an original language, and for its continuation until its 
recognition was forced,. Persons are generally very slow to 
recognize an original language. They are likely to explain the 
language by saying that the children in whom it appears have 
a defect in speech, or that they are mentally defective. In the 
two cases above, one explanation prevailed in one case, and the 
other in the next. 

The next case introduces another feature into the situa- 
tion. The case is reported by Mr. Henry S., who lived in the 
same neighborhood with the children, and went to school with 
them. His observations, moreover, are corroborated by reports 
of the neighbors who have talked with him about the children. 

The family was named H. and they still live near S., Mich- 
igan. There were five children in the family, the oldest three 
being girls, and the youngest two being boys. It was with the 
boys that the new language appeared. The family lived on a 
large farm, and the boys were left much alone. The older boy 
seems to have been the one with whom the new language de^ 
veloped, and the younger adopted his method of speaking. The 
two boys talked freely with each other, and could readily un- 
derstand what each other said, but other persons could not 
understand them. When they started to school, the other 
pupils could not understand what they said, and they had to 
begin to learn the English language, as they did not know how 
to speak it. 

The family and the neighbors did not regard the boys as 
deficient in intellect, but thought they had a serious impedi- 
ment in their speech. They recognized a peculiarity in their 
method of speaking, and commented upon it. The boys are 
now about twenty-six years old, and still employ some forms 
of their original language when they talk with each other. 

In this case, there are indications of the persistence of 



ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN 89 

some portions of the language, even though the boys learned 
to speak the common language of the other people very well. 

It is very difficult to discover any of the word forms that 
are employed in these original languages, and much more so to 
discover the grammatical constructions that children use. Miss 
Sarah R^ reports the case of two children of her brother, who 
seem to have had a language of their own. They were two 
boys, and were two or three years old when they began to use 
their original language. They conversed fluently with each 
other in this language, which no one else could understand. 
By the time they started to school, they could converse with 
other persons in the common English language, but when they 
were by themselves, they employed their own language. So 
far as Miss R. is able to determine, it was principally in the 
nouns and adjectives that the original language differed from 
the common language. The construction, and the verbs, so far 
as she remembers, were similar to the English. She has asked 
her mother for any words that the boys used, and she has re- 
membered two. Bebbleboarm, and contragooeye, were names 
of toys with which the boys played. 

The clearest case of the development of an original lan- 
guage, in which the instinctive character of speech seems con- 
clusively demonstrated, is one reported by Miss Gladys McA. 
It is the case of two children whose parents live in Detroit. 
The parents are both deaf and dumb. The father is an archi- 
tect and the mother is also well educated. There was no spoken 
language in the home, but the children began to talk by them- 
selves, and had a clearly defined vocabulary, although of a lim- 
ited number of words. The fact that the children were learn- 
ing to speak a language of their own, which no one else could 
understand, was interpreted by their grandmother as being 
something very bad so she took them to her home and kept 
them until they had learned to speak English. 

This seems as if it were a natural experiment, which fur- 
nishes conclusive evidence of the instinctive character of 
speech. Of course, it is possible to set up the claim that, 
although the children did not hear any language in their home, 
they might have heard speech from other persons, and so have 
learned to speak in that way. But if that had been the origin 
of their language they would have talked as other persons talk 



90 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

and not in such a way that no one else could understand them. 

It is almost invariably the case that the use of the original 
language is discouraged by the parents, and the children made 
to feel that it is something discreditable and to be concealed. 
This will account for the very slight persistence in these orig- 
inal languages. Occasionally, however, the language persists. 
Miss Marian H. reports the case of two children in a family 
named G. who now live about two miles east of P. in Michigan. 
Miss H. lived in the same neighborhood, and knows the children 
herself. The two children who possessed the language talked 
freely with each other, and the parents and the older sister 
could understand the greater part of what the children said, 
although other persons could not. There seems to have been 
no suspicion of mental deficiency in the family, for the older 
girl was unusually bright. The speech of the younger children 
was rather encouraged by the parents, who could understand 
the greater part of it. So far as Miss HL knew at the time of 
the report, the children still used the language. 

An interesting bit of testimony is found in the account of 
Miss Marjorie S. Miss S). herself began to talk when she was 
about twelve months old. She was quite sociable, and as a child 
enjoyed playing with other children. She had a brother about 
fifteen months younger than herself, who began to talk about 
the age that other children do, but who employed a language 
of his own. Miss S. could understand what he said, but other 
persons could not. She could translate what he said to the 
other members of the family, although she did not speak the 
boy's language even to him. The brother liked very much to 
play with her, but would not play with other children;. When 
he could not get his sister to play with him, he would go off 
and play by himself. 

Miss S. remembers some of the words that the boy used. 
One of them was dabo, meaning skirt,. He had a prefix to the 
word dabo for red skirt, and another prefix to indicate black 
skirt. Emboon meant bread, and yish meant sister. He show- 
ed a decided preference for his own language, even when it 
became clear that he was able to learn the language of other 
persons. 

One other example is quite instructive as showing in a 
measure a rather unusual tendency of an original language to 



ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN 91 

persist, notwithstanding the very strong influences that tend 
to eliminate it. Miss Hester P. reports the case of a woman 
living near P., Michigan, who, as a small girl, employed an 
original language. Later, she learned English, but the 
original language persisted. She grew up, married, and has 
taught her original language to her husband, so that they use 
it now. 

The above represent types of the twenty-one cases of orig- 
inal languages that have been reported to me. It seems that 
the tendency to develop original languages is almost universal 
in children, but it is too strong a statement to make, that they 
are very common. When one is inclined to make such an esti- 
mate, it would be well for him to try to describe a few., But 
they are more common than a casual observer is likely to dis- 
cover. The reason that so few are recognized is not very diffi- 
cult to understand. Children who employ them are likely to be 
classed as defective in speech or deficient in intellect. Also, 
the disposition to speak an original language is a stimulus to 
the parents and others to teach the children English. So al- 
most every circumstance contributes to the elimination of the 
language, and there is no circumstance except the original na- 
ture, or the instinct of the child, that leads to their develop- 
ment. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Horatio Hale — Origin of Language and the Antiquity 
of Speaking Man. Proceedings of the American Association 
for the Advancement! of Science, volume 35, p. 279-329. A 
most important contribution to the subject. 

2. Conradi — Speech Development in the Child. Pedagog- 
ical Seminary, volume 11, p. 328. On page 337 mention is made 
of Hale and the invention of languages. Important paper. 

3. Tracy — The Language of Children. American Journal 
of Psychology, volume 6, p. 107. See especially Heredity versus 
Education in Language, p. 108-9. Refers to Hale with an ac- 
count of five cases of languages invented by children. 

4. Chamberlain— The Child. P. 132-136. Refers to Hale 
and to several other writers. Chamberlain says such languages 
are not uncommon. 



CHAPTER X 

DOUBLE PERSONALITY 

The phenomenon of double, or alternating, personality has 
attracted much interest, and has been quite thoroughly in- 
vestigated by many persons. In its general phenomena, it is 
quite well understood; but in its relations to the ordinary ex- 
periences of normal persons, it is far from having received 
anything like a satisfactory explanation. 

The cakses principally reported have been those present- 
ing the extreme types of the experience, and perhaps all of 
them necessitating an assumption of pathological conditions, 
so that we are inclined to believe that the experiences are al- 
ways and inevitably pathological in their nature, belonging to 
abnormal psychology proper, and having no counterpart nor 
relation to the normal experiences of a healthy individual. 

The best known examples, and the most instructive, have 
been described in the writings of Professor James, Ribot, Binet, 
Weir Mitchell, Morton Prince, Sidis, Coriat, and other writers 
who have investigated the different cases with a great deal of 
care. To any one who has given the smallest attention to the 
subject, it will be sufficient merely to mention the names of 
such cases as Ansel Bourne, Mary Reynolds, Felida X, Lurancy 
Vennum, with many others that are almost equally well known. 
These are all of them extreme cases and some of them have 
been studied with an assumption of a mystical explanation that 
does not furnish a connection with examples of the less ex- 
treme form, and they fail to furnish a connecting link with 
the ordinary experiences which occur in the life of nearly 
every person. Instead of referring to these celebrated ex- 
amples, I should prefer to examine some related cases that 
have been reported to me by the persons who have had such 
experiences themselves. 

The first case is that of Mrs. Zaida C f who had the ex- 
perience, and whose report of it is given in her own words. 
It is written rather appropriately, in the third person, for she 
says that her knowledge of what occurred in the second state 
is altogether derived from the information that her mother has 
given to her. She remembers no single circumstances that oc- 
curred in the second state. 



DOUBLE PERSONALITY 93 

"When a little past the age of eleven, the following curious 
experience happened to the writer. One day in May, she took 
a nap in the afternoon, which was an unusual thing for her to 
do. About two hours later, her mother wakened her, and ask- 
ed her to go and find out why the woman who was expected to 
come and do some work had failed to do so. The mother said 
afterward that she noticed that the child appeared indifferent, 
and went out of the back door instead of the front, as she us- 
ually did, but at the time, no thought was given to the slightly 
unusual circumstance. The child, instead of going four blocks 
straight east, as she should have done, went in an entirely dif- 
ferent direction, going some distance west and south. Passers- 
by said afterward that she walked in a very listless manner. 
She passed playmates whom she did not appear to recognize, 
but to their questioning, she replied that she was going to 
borrow some carpet tacks of — (giving a name unknown and 
on an unknown street). She must have wandered some time 
during which she stopped at a house and rapped on the door, 
but did not wait for a reply to her knocking. Upon her return 
home, she said nothing, which was rather unusual for her, but 
just seated herself and gazed out of the window. 

"To her mother's inquiry concerning the message sent by 
her, she made no reply. When asked where she had been, she 
said "Nowhere." Then after some investigation, the foregoing 
facts were discovered. She gave herself a new name, Patty. 
Her own name is Zaida. She failed to recognize her parents, 
her playmates, or her surroundings. She seemed rather indif- 
ferent to all around her. Up till two months previously, she 
had been the only child in the family, and when a little baby 
sister came, she was exceedingly interested and happy. But 
during this interval, she seemed to care nothing for the little 
sister, and she could not be interested in her. She was ordi- 
narily very fond of books and school, but for these few days, 
she did not care to read. (Query: Had she forgotten how to 
read, or was she unable to read.) nor did she care to go to 
school, nor to play the usual games with her playmates. In- 
stead, she seemed fond of sewing, a thing she usually looked 
upon with great dislike. 

"A doctor was consulted, but he said wait a few days long- 
er and see if things would not adjust themselves. During this 



94 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

period of four days, she was quite a different person; quiet, 
listless, thoughtful, and utterly unconcerned about the things 
around her. 

"Finally, one morning when her mother called her and she 
awoke, her own merry, inquisitive, active self had returned. 
She believed that she had been visiting, remembered nothing 
that had happened in the preceding four days, and expressed 
great delight at seeing the baby again. 

"As clearly as the writer remembers what was told her, 
this is all that transpired. There has not been any similar re- 
currence of the experience. About this time, however, cover- 
ing a period of two or three years, or more, she had peculiar, 
indefinable sensations, as if she were slipping away. It was a 
feeling that she never could describe, even to the doctors who 
were consulted. When these feelings began to appear, she 
would go to her mother and say, "Mamma, I am feeling that 
way again. Take hold of my hands and talk loud." In fifteen 
minutes or so, the feeling would pass away." 

In the above account, we may observe the regular features 
of an extreme case of double personality. First, the oncoming 
of the experience occurred just as the person was waking from 
sleep. While this condition is not at all universal, we shall find 
it represented in several of the standard examples. There was 
a total absence of the recognition of the things that were 
known in the first state, and upon the changing back to the 
first state, a total failure to remember any of the events that 
occurred in the second state. This condition of amnesia is the 
most nearly universal characteristic of this condition, and some 
times is almost the only indication of there having been a 
change. Third, there was a noticeable change in the habits, 
disposition, and interests accompanying the change from the 
first to the second state. Like several other cases, that may be 
considered classical in their nature, there was no recurrence to 
the second state besides this one noted, although there were 
preliminary symptoms indicating its approach. 

A very similar case, although less complete and less ex- 
treme, is the experience of Miss Genevieve H. Miss H. reports 
that one morning when she was about eleven years old, she 
came down to breakfast and remarked to the family that it 
was an unusually bright day, and she felt extraordinarily good 



DOUBLE PERSONALITY 95 

for Monday. She remarked that on Mondays she usually felt 
blue. Her sister said that this was not Monday, but Thursday. 
Genevieve said, "No, it is Monday, because I did not go to 
school yesterday." Her sister said that she had gone to school. 
At least, she had left the house at the regular school hour, had 
come home for dinner, gone away again, and returned for 
supper. Genevieve says that she had no recollection of either 
circumstance. She then went to school, and the teacher in- 
quired rather accusingly, why she had not been at school the 
day before. Genevieve says that she does not know now, and 
did not know them, why she did it; perhaps the assertion of 
her sister a short time before, and her willingness to defend 
herself, but she lied. She told the teacher she had been at 
school, although she had no recollection of it at all. The teach- 
er condemned her for lying, and kept her after school as a 
punishment, every night for a week. Miss H. says that to this 
day, she does not know any single thing that occurred on the 
day when she was absent from school, and when her family 
supposed that she was there. She has never found out from 
any one else what her experiences were. Her family afterward 
said that they had observed that she was somewhat different 
in her manner on that day; not so noisy, playful, nor boister- 
ous as was her usual habit. 

All that is needed to make this a thoroughly typical ex- 
ample, is to find out the events in the experience of the child 
on that lost day. If the condition had recurred several times, 
it would duplicate the features of the most extreme types. 

Somewhat similar, and yet more closely approximating the 
normal condition, less extreme and even more instructive is 
the case of Miss Marjorie S. Last spring, in June, Miss S. was 
feeling very bad at supper. She was almost fainting, and ask- 
ed to be excused from the table. She started for her room, but 
fainted before she reached it. She was found in a fainting 
condition by one of the girls in the house, who assisted her to 
her room. 

She was responsible for a meeting of her sorority that ev- 
ening, and was very much concerned over the event. However, 
the girl who had found her fainting, was much alarmed over 
her condition, and assisted her to get into bed. When the time 
for the meeting of the sorority approached, Miss S. insisted 



96 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

upon getting up, and went to the meeting. She presided at 
the meeting, and made a speech upon the matter under con- 
sideration. It was observed that she looked intently at one girl 
in the audience all the time she was speaking. 

The next morning, she inquired of her friend how the 
meeting went off, whether it was held or not, and what was 
done. She remembered nothing whatever about the meeting, 
nor of her own experiences while there. She remembered 
nothing that had occurred after her fainting spell as she was 
leaving the supper table. 

In this case we have the amnesic experience which is the 
most noticeable feature of all cases of double personality. We 
do not have in the statement as made, any information about 
the kind of changed personality in the second condition, and 
there is not the complete separation of the first state from the 
second that we find in a strongly marked typical case. The 
fact that she was able to make a speech upon a matter 
whose details had been accumulated while in the first state 
implies that there was not a perfect separation of the two 
states. It is in consequence of this fact that the example is 
very instructive. It furnishes a step in the transition from 
the most complete cases of separation to the normal condition 
of every day experience. 

Another example that is very instructive because of its 
transition character between the extreme types of cases and 
the normal condition is that of Mr. Orla G. Mr. G. had learned 
a piece to speak in his elocution class. He was reciting the 
piece in the presence of an audience composed principally of 
the members of his class, when suddenly he was unable to go 
on. The selection was from Ben Hur, and it was the scene be- 
tween the Angel and the Shepherd. He had come to the end 
of the Angel's speech, "A voice of sweetness more than human" 
— when all suggestions of the scene were suddenly replaced by 
a flood of ideas totally unrelated to the scene, and which con- 
cerned a series of troubles connected with his home affairs, 
blotting out all associations with the theme of his speech. 
Promptings by the class, at first of single words, then entire 
sentences, failed to replace the connections. Promptings could 
not suggest a single idea connected with the story. 

Another member of the class got up and recited the same 



DOUBLE PERSONALITY 97 

selection, but even then he could not understand it. It was a 
full hour before he was able to get back the train of thought 
that had been interrupted, or could understand any part of 
the selection when it was spoken to him. When the selection 
was read to him in this condition, it was absolutely meaning- 
less. Mr. G. reported the case to me immediately, on the same 
day that it occurred. 

In this case there was only a partial interruption of the 
personal continuity. However, it is an experience of the same 
order, and would find its explanation in the same series of con- 
ditions that would explain double personality. 

In all cases of this kind, we shall recognize without any 
hesitation, that there is a pathological condition involved. It 
is impossible, in the present state of our knowledge to offer 
even a tentative explanation of the things that cause the ior- 
getfulness, and the change of disposition. We can, however, 
very plausibly and with much justification, make the supposi- 
tion that there is an interruption of the usual paths of nervous 
conductivity in the brain, and that the nervous impulses are 
conducted through the brain centers in new ways, entering 
upon the brain centers from new synaptic approaches, and in- 
volving new and different combinations of brain cells. All this 
is a much more promising and helpful speculation than those 
which involve the conception of a "split off consciousness," or 
the bringing to the surface of an "unconscious," "subconscious" 
or "subliminal" self. 

The words, "unconscious self," subliminal self," subjective 
self," all constitute phrases that are so full of misleading im- 
plications that they vitiate any argument into which they 
enter. 

Personality is a word that has been much abused. It is 
used in two distinct senses. First, it is often used to mean a 
general characteristic of an individual, which is so indefinite in 
its character that it cannot be attacked in an argument. A 
person is said to have a strong personality, while another per- 
son has a weak personality. The nearest approximation to a 
meaning for this expression is a character which will be found 
to depend upon the clearness or obscurity of ideas. A person 
who has, as a general rule, clear and vivid ideas, is one of a 
strong personality. The person whose ideas are generally weak 



98 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

and obscure, who never knows exactly what he wants nor how 
to go to work to get it, is a person of weak personality. The 
vividness of the ideas is the distinguishing feature of a strong 
personality. The feeling that accompanies the ideas is merely 
an incident, an inevitable concomitant, not the principal char- 
acter. 

But when we use the word personality, in the phrase al- 
ternating personality, or double personality, we mean some- 
thing different from the above. We mean by personality in 
this sense, the content of the word I when it is used by any 
individual. It is the sum of the characters that separate one 
ego from all other egos. 

There are two characters by which one ego may be dis- 
criminated from all other egos. The first is that there is a cer- 
tain kind of sameness existing between the psychical states of 
one ego, that does not exist between the psychical state of one 
ego and that of another. This sameness of psychical states 
may be easily understood by recognizing that there is a cer- 
tain kind of sameness between the physical elements of the 
ego at one time, and at another, which does not exist between 
the physical elements of one ego and those of another. One 
person uses the same brain cells and centers for different 
psychical processes while another person uses a different series 
of brain cells and centers. The same kind of sameness exists 
between the psychical processes that exists between the physi- 
cal elements. Or it might be better to say that the same kind 
of difference exists between the psychical processes of two 
egos, that exists between the two physical organisms connected 
with them. 

The second difference that discriminates one ego from all 
others, is that there is a continuity existing between the psy- 
chical processes, so that the same designation may be employed 
for them at widely different times. The continuity is more 
apparent than real. The psychical processes of two men of 
twenty-one years old are more nearly alike than are the psy- 
chical processes of one of the men at twenty-one, and the same 
person at the age of three. Yet we assert that the man of 
twenty-one is the same person that he was at three, and is not 
the same person as the other man at twenty-one. 

The continuity consists in the slowness of the changes, so 



DOUBLE PERSONALITY 99 

that it is easy to follow its progress; and also the same connec- 
tions that have been once formed between processes both 
mental and nervous, have been maintained. It is not that the 
personality has not changed, but that it has changed so slowly 
that there has not been at any time a serious interruption of 
the continuity. 

The human being in his psychical processes uses certain 
brain areas and certain groups of brain cells. If it were pos- 
sible to open up new sense organs, and to employ new and 
totally different groups of brain cells and centers, a new and 
different personality would be born. If by pathological con- 
ditions, the continuity of nervous processes should be inter- 
rupted, new combinations of cells employed, and new nervous 
pathways marked out, we should have a new series of mental 
actions to correspond. It is in some such a conception as this 
that we must seek for a truly scientific explanation of the phe- 
nomena of double personality. 

Many such experiences as those described above have been 
observed and recorded. They have attracted attention because 
of their unlikeness to the usual phenomena of mental life, and 
have induced study thereby. But if we examine our own ex- 
periences, we shall discover that each one of us in his own 
mental processes experiences phenomena identical with those 
recorded above, which fail to attract attention because they 
are very common, much less exaggerated, and less noticeable 
from their milder intensity. Many of our forgettings, many 
cases of unconscious activity, many of the changes in moods, 
and different impressions that the same set of circumstances 
make upon us, are due to the same kind of causes which bring 
about the extreme forms of double personality. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Ribot — Diseases of Personality. 

2. James — Psychology, volume 1, p. 379-393. 

3. Weir Mitchell — The Case of Mary Reynolds. Harper's 
Magazine, May, 1860. 

- 4. Cutten — The Case of John Kinsel. Psychological Re- 
view, volume 10, p„ 465 and 615. 

5. Dana — The Case of M. S. Psychological Review, 
volume 1, p. 57. 



CHAPTER XI 

PARAMNESIA 

Occasionally a person will find himself in a situation where 
he has the feeling that every circumstance has been in exactly 
the same relation to himself on some previous occasion. There 
is the feeling that everything has happened just as it is now 
in some past time. It is recognized as having been previously 
experienced. There is a feeling of familiarity that is almost 
startling in its convincingness. This experience is called par- 
amnesia. It is this feeling of familiarity, the has-been-experi- 
enced-before consciousnessv About twelve per cent of all per- 
sons have had this experience, although some estimates place 
it as high as thirty per cent. 

It is this feeling that constitutes the chief evidence for 
the doctrine of reminiscence, which is a doctrine that states 
that the soul has existed in some place before it's induction 
into the body of a little child, and remembers in a fragmentary 
way, some of the incidents of its previous existence. This is 
the idea that is poetically exploited in Wordsworth's Intima- 
tions of Immortality. 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting. 

The soul that rises with us, our life's star, 

Hath elsewhere had its setting, 

And cometh from afar. 

Not in entire forgetfulness, 

Not in utter nakedness, 

But trailing clouds of glory do we come 

From God who is our home. 

It is this same paramnesia experience that constitutes the 
psychological basis for the doctrine that all events occur in 
cycles. In some of the Eastern forms of the doctrine, it is as- 
serted that events happen in exactly the same way and in the 
identical succession every fifty thousand years. No doubt, too, 
it is the psychological foundation for the belief in metempsy- 
chosis, or the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. The soul 
in some previous incarnation may have witnessed exactly such 
a scene, and now, in its present incarnation, has a faint rec- 



PARAMNESIA 101 

ollection of that previous experience when he observed it under 
changed conditions. It seems evident that a mental experi- 
ence which can furnish corroborative evidence for doctrines of 
such great influence as these, is deserving of serious considera- 
tion. 

An examination of the reports of cases of this experience 
will enable us to discover the essential features. Mr. Arthur 
M. reports that he has often experienced the phenomena. On 
one occasion, on a trip into the Rocky Mountains, he discovered 
a little valley of rather peculiar nature. Suddenly, he appear- 
ed to recognize that valley, as having been seen before, down 
to the most minute detail. He knew that it was impossible for 
him ever to have seen that valley, or any valley similar to it. 
Nevertheless, there was exactly the same feeling experienced 
that there would have been had he been looking at a valley that 
he had previously seen. He inquired if he might not have 
dreamed of such a valley. It seemed improbable that he had 
ever seen a picture that was similar, and the circumstance 
made a deep impression upon him. 

The feeling of familiarity which constitutes the element of 
recognition, is the essential feature of this experience. In this 
case, the recognition occurred in surroundings that were whol- 
ly unfamiliar. But in quite half of the cases, the feeling is ex- 
perienced in surroundings with which the person is already 
thoroughly acquainted. 

Miss Zilpha P. reports that just the day before the report 
was given, while passing down a street that she had passed 
over hundreds of times, she suddenly experienced the feeling 
of having been in exactly the same situation in every detail on 
some previous occasion. The locality was the same, but per- 
haps never, in any experience, is there a perfectly complete 
combination of the thousands of details a second time. But in 
this case it seemed as if every detail had been experienced in 
just this combination. About half of these experiences occur 
when the locality is the same with which the person is familiar, 
while the other half of all experiences reported occur in un- 
familiar localities. 

Mr. Glenn H. records an example of paramnesia that is 
very clear and instructive. When he was about seventeen 
years old, he drove about fifteen or twenty miles with a dog- 



102 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

and gun, for the purpose of hunting rabbits. He carried his 
lunch with him, and coming to an open place, he sat down to 
eat it. Suddenly there came to him a feeling of familiarity as 
if he had been in exactly the same situation before, and every 
detail of the situation had been perfectly reproduced. It was 
certain that he had never experienced this situation before, 
and it was impossible for many reasons, that he could have 
done so. 

The above examples disclose the essential characteristics 
of the experience. There are some incidental features of the 
experience that ought to be noticed. It is somewhat common, 
in paramnesic experiences, for a person to believe that he could 
have predicted the next event in the series, or the next thing 
that would be seen around the corner. Thus Mr. Harry H. 
reports that something more than a year ago he visited for the 
first time, the town of B. As he was passing down one of the 
streets of the little town, he experienced the feeling that he 
must have been in exactly the same conditions in every respect 
on some previous occasion. So familiar did everything appear 
to be that he was confident that he could have described the 
location and the appearances of all the houses around the 
corner in the next cross street into which they had not yet 
turned. 

It is probable that this feeling of being able to predict 
what is yet coming is an illusion., Very seldom is it possible 
to try the experiment, but one report is a perfectly satisfac- 
tory account of such an attempt. Miss Blanche T. was in an 
auto, with her father, coming from the city of T. late one ev- 
ening, when they got off the direct road, and were for a time, 
in effect,, lost. Suddenly, she experienced a feeling- of famil- 
iarity, and seemed to have been in exactly the same situation 
before^ She announced that she knew where they were, and 
could describe the very turns that they must make to get into 
the proper road for their journey. Her father followed her 
indications and not a thing turned out as she felt it ought to. 
She was mistaken in every particular. It seems probable that 
such will be found to be the case very generally, in paramnesic 
experiences when a person undertakes to predict what will be 
the next incident in the situation. 

However, it is very probable that some person, who already 



PARAMNESIA 103 

has a profound conviction of the truth of the doctrine of rem- 
iniscence, will report experiences to the contrary. Miss Muriel 
G., who is a Christian Scientist, reports that she has a friend, 
a Mr. A., who is a firm believer in the doctrine of transmigra- 
tion of souls. He believes that in his just preceding incarna- 
tion he was a Frenchman and lived in Paris. He asserted that 
on his first visit to Paris (in his present incarnation), every- 
thing was so very familiar to him that he was certain that he 
could find his way without difficulty to a particular hotel, in 
consequence of remembering it from his previous existence. 
He reported that he did find the hotel, without any directions 
from other persons, and that the entire route was perfectly 
familiar to him, An account like this is to be considered re- 
liable to just about the extent that one is able to prove it in- 
dependently. 

It appear? from the reports, that younger persons experi- 
ence the phenomena of paramnesia more frequently than do 
older persons. As a person becomes older, the almost universal 
testimony is that the experiences become less frequent. 

The number of times the experience occurs is not very 
great. In the reports of the fifty cases that have been exam- 
ined for this chapter, many of the persons reporting state that 
they have experienced the phenomena many times. When 
pressed to make an estimate of what they mean by many times, 
the estimates run from once every week to three or four times 
a year. It seems probable that with persons twenty years old, 
most of those who experience the phenomena will notice on the 
average, one experience in a month. 

There are some experiences that have been described under 
the name of paramnesia to which the designation does not 
properly apply. Not every feeling of familiarity, is a param- 
nesic experience. The recognition of something as having been 
seen before, is not necessarily paramnesia. If a thing has been 
seen before, its recognition, even though it be faint and uncer- 
tain, is not properly paramnesia. Some experiments have been 
made for the purpose of studying paramnesia, that cannot be 
commended for the purpose. The experiments are such as fol- 
lows: A person is caused to look at a series of picture cards. 
These cards are then shuffled with another set of cards that 
have not been examined. The subject is then caused to look at 



104 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

the cards, and when a person recognizes one as having been 
seen before, that feeling of familiarity is described as param- 
nesia. Such recognitions, and feelings of familiarity with 
things that have been seen before, is not properly described 
by the name. The name paramnesia ought to be limited to the 
feeling of familiarity with that which has never been seen 
before. 

Even in some cases where an object, or more commonly a 
person, is recognized, and the feeling of familiarity is experi- 
enced, the phenomenon is not paramnesia. Miss Mildred A. 
says that one day she met a girl whom she had never seen be- 
fore, but whom she felt as if she recognized immediately, and 
with whom she felt quite well acquainted. The other girl ex- 
pressed the same kind of feeling toward her, but neither could 
suggest any opportunity for having met before. It seems 
probable that there were elements of similarity between the 
girl and some one else whom Miss A. knew that might have led 
to the feeling of recognition. 

But such an explanation cannot account for the cases of 
genuine paramnesia. In the case mentioned above, that of 
Miss Zilpha P., there were any number of points of similarity 
in the situation, but the feeling at just that particular time 
when the experience occurred was noticeably different from 
what it was the day before, or the hour before, when walking 
down the same street. Neither does it seem possible that the 
first presentation of the scene with its attending circumstances 
might have been made in a dream, as Mr. Arthur M. suggests 
above. 

The phenomena of paramnesia have attracted a sufficient 
amount of attention to serve as a basis for many philosophical 
theories, as stated in the beginning of this chapter. Each 
theory is an attempt to explain the phenomena. Also, many 
theories of a different character have been advanced to serve 
as an explanation for the mental processes involved. 

One such theory is that of Wigan, who supposed that it 
might be due to the lack of synchronism in the operation of 
the two hemispheres of the brain. He supposed that the two 
sides of the brain always worked together, somewhat after 
the manner of the two eyes; but if for any reason, the two 
sides should not work quite together, we should have ji param- 



PARAMNESIA 105 

nesic experience. Such a theory seems altogether impossible, 
in the light of what we know concerning the localization of 
function, and the relation of the two hemispheres to each other. 
Another theory is that paramnesia is due to, first an uncon- 
scious perception, followed by a conscious perception which is 
recognized as being partially familiar, at least. Although the 
assumption is not necessary, this theory generally assumes the 
existence of an unconscious mind, or a subliminal self, or some 
mystical conception of that nature. There is very little evi- 
dence in support of such a theory as this. 

Paramnesia is an illusion of memory, and it would seem 
that we can best understand the phenomena by an examination 
of the nervous processes that accompany an act of memory. 
Memory is the reinstatement of a previous mental experience 
with the same conscious elements. It is the reproduction of a 
mental state and the recognizing it as having been experi- 
enced before. Unless the process is both reinstated and recog- 
nized, it is not memory. It includes both mental reproduction 
and mental recognition. The illusory process which we know 
as paramnesia occurs in the second element, that of mental 
recognition. 

The nervous processes that accompany memory may be 
described by saying that memory is the concomitant of the 
transmission of the nervous impulse through the same nervous 
arc that it passed through before, and the radiation out into 
the same fringing cells. Mental reproduction is the concomit- 
ant of the the transmission of the nervous impulse through 
the same nervous arc that it passed through before, and mental 
recognition is the concomitant of the radiation out into the 
same fringing cells. 

Whenever the nervous impulse passes through the same 
nervous arc that it passed through before, without radiating 
into the same fringing cells, we experience mental reproduc- 
tion without mental recognition. Whenever the nervous im- 
pulse passes through the same fringing cells without passing 
through the corresponding nervous arc, we experience mental 
recognition without mental reproduction. Something of this 
kind probably occurs when we are trying to recall a name, and 
are able to recognize it if we hear it. Either of the elements 
of memory may occur without the other. 



106 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

Using this conception of the nervous processes accompany- 
ing memory, we may establish a hypothesis that will give us a 
clear understanding of the paramnesic process. In paramnesia, 
the error, or illusion, is due to the second element, mental rec- 
ognition. It is not an error in mental reproduction. 

Let us suppose that for some reason, the initial impulse 
passes through the fringing cells without having first trav- 
ersed the brain center. Then it immediately corrects itself, 
passes through the brain center, and radiates out into the 
fringing cells in the usual way. We shall then have the ner- 
vous impulse traversing, or entering upon, the fringing cells 
twice, while there has been only one transmission through the 
brain center. There will have been two experiences of mental 
recognition, while there has been only one perception. This 
would seem to explain all the phenomena that we have noted 
in the examples described above* 

This hypothesis of the transmission through the brain 
center and radiation out into the fringing cells to accompany 
a consciousness of the thing perceived, is almost identical with 
the hypothesis proposed by Elliott Park Frost, in the Psycho- 
logical Review, of May, 1914. What he calls there the alpha- 
arc, I have called the brain center. When he calls the beta-arc 
1 have called the fringing cells. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, 
volume 2, p. 74. Article Metempsychosis. 

2. LaLande — Des Paramnesie. Psychological Review, 
volume 1, p. 94. Review of the article by W. J. Speaks of the 
theories of Wigan and Anjel. 

3. Burnham — Paraamnesia. American Journal of Psy 
chology, volume 2, p. 431-464. Indicates that Kraepelin first 
used the word, and limited it to pseudo-reminiscence. See 
Burnham's most favored explanation, p. 448. 

4. Baldwin's Dictionary — volume 2, p. 65. Article Mem- 
ory. Mentions three kinds. The one called Identifying Param- 
nesia is the one to which the word is limited in this chapter. 



CHAPTER XII 

DREAMS 

The subject of dreams has been a favorite topic for specu- 
lation from the earliest times of which we have any record. 
Dreams have influenced the thinking and the actions of the 
whole world, and are still exceedingly influential in determin- 
ing the philosophy and conduct of nearly every person. Dream 
books that profess to indicate the significance of dreams, ar- 
ranged according to the alphabetical order of their subjects, 
are published, sold and read in great quantities. Religious 
systems find in dreams the apperceptive basis which renders 
their promulgation easy. 

The theories advanced to account for dreams are almost 
as many and as varied as the dreams themselves. Many the- 
ories of dreams find in the dreams themselves, the evidence of 
two wholly unlike systems of mental processes, described in 
the terms of a duality, such as subjective and objective mind; 
conscious and unconscious mind; and have postulated this 
duality, to use it as an explanation of the dream phenomena 
themselves. 

The most elaborate and the most ingenious theory of 
dreams, supported by an almost incredible amount of investi- 
gation, is that of Freud. Freud's theory of dreams may best 
be understood by mentioning briefly a few of its most char- 
acteristic features. First, Freud believes that every dream is 
an unconscious wish. The wish must be unconscious before it 
can induce a dream. Consequently, the person who experi- 
ences the dream, may be wholly unconscious of entertaining 
the wish. This thesis is worked out by Freud in a most in- 
genious way, but by the method employed to demonstrate the 
presence of the wish, it would be possible to prove that the 
world is a hazel nut. 

Second: — The Fruedian theory of dreams postulates the 
presence of a psychic censor, whose description is that of a 
mischievous little devil. This psychic censor may also be de- 
scribed as the unconscious mind. 

Third: — A very large proportion of dreams are sexual in 
their origin and character. In order to demonstrate this point, 
an elaborate system of symbolism is evolved, such as that every 



108 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

dream that involves going up a hill, or upstairs is sexual. 

Fourth: — Nearly every dream involves the reproduction of 
some experience, under a changed form, that occurred in the 
very early life of a child. These early experiences may have 
occurred before the child was a year old, and before there was 
any possibility of remembering them. 

These are merely some of the features of Freud's theory, 
and they are the features that have been most successfully 
criticised. Personally, the writer is lost in admiration of the 
great ingenuity of the theory, but is unable to agree with a 
single major proposition involved in it. 

It seems to be necessary to apply the same principles of 
interpretation to dreams that we apply to any other natural 
phenomena. We must not introduce into the explanation any 
mysterious and mystical element, so long as we have a simpler 
explanation that is adequatev This principle is known in logic 
as the law of parsimony, and it will enable us to avoid many 
absurdities of interpretation. Applying this principle, it seems 
possible to find a simple and easy way to understand the gen- 
eral phenomena of dreams. 

A dream is any mental action in sleep. Any mental action 
has for its inevitable concomitant the transmission of a ner- 
vous impulse through some combination of brain cells which 
we may call a brain center. When nervous impulses traverse 
brain centers during sleep, we have the phenomena of dreams. 

Sleep is a condition of unconsciousness due to a diminished 
amount of nervous energy. When the amount of nervous en- 
ergy liberated decreases below a certain point, then we experi- 
ence the condition of sleep. Unconsciousness brought . about in 
any other manner cannot be called sleep. 

A dream, then, is always accompanied by a smaller amount 
of nervous energy transmitted through a brain center, than is 
a waking mental process. In consequence of this fact, the 
dream is always less vivid than a corresponding waking ex- 
perience. Also, in consequence of the same fact, a dream is 
very easily forgotten, and it is not likely to be reported with 
any high degree of accuracy. This is one of the most notice- 
able characteristics of dreams. It is almost impossible to re- 
produce or reinstate a dream experience unless it is rehearsed, 
reinstated or reported within a few minutes after waking up. 



DREAMS 109 

An example of this will be seen in an experience of the 
writer. One time the writer was coming from Cincinnati to 
Detroit in a sleeping car. Just about the usual time for wak- 
ing up in the morning, my suitcase, in the berth with me fell 
over and struck me on the knee. Just at that instant, I ex- 
perienced a dream which seemed to me such a clear example 
of a dream peripherally directed, that as soon as possible there- 
after, I wrote it out in full detail. 

A few months after that, having occasion in my classes to 
refer to the peripheral direction of dreams, I related this cir- 
cumstance, stating that a wooden box came downward from 
the left and above, and perched upon my knee. I said that the 
dream was so vivid that I could distinctly see the grain of the 
wood in the box. As soon as convenient afterward, I examined 
my notes on that particular case, and found that instead of 
its being a wooden box, my notes said that it was the sugar 
bowl on our dinner table that came down from above and from 
the left and perched upon my knee. My notes said that it was 
so clear and distinct that I distinctly perceived the figures in 
the decoration on the china sugar bowl. 

Here was a dream that had been vivid. It had been re- 
instated clearly, and so definitely that it had been written out 
and its significance and importance as an illustration had been 
recognized. Notwithstanding all this, in a comparatively short 
time, it was related in all sincerity, with startling inaccuracy. 

If we realize that dreams occur when there is a very small 
amount of nervous energy being liberated, we shall be able to 
understand several characteristics that would otherwise seem 
unexplainable, as well as avoid being deceived by inconsist- 
encies in the report. It is this fact that explains why dreams 
are less vivid than waking experiences, and why they are so 
easily forgotten. 

It is this fact, more perhaps than any other, that makes it 
impossible to credit the accounts of dreams which are related 
as evidence of a supernatural connection between dreams and 
subsequent events. Frequently we are asked to accept as evi- 
dence of a dream's coming true the testimony of some person 
whose mother told her that a friend had such a dream thirty 
years ago. No real confidence can be placed in the report of 



110 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

such a dream unless the person has written it out as soon as? 
he has awakened after the dream occurred. 

The fact that a dream experience is so easily forgotten ac- 
counts for another characteristic. Many persons affirm that 
they seldom, or never dream. Miss Tina H. says that she rare- 
ly dreams. She experiences a dream no more than once a year. 
Miss Mildred M. states that she has experienced only one dream 
in the past seven weeks. Miss Gladys M. states that she 
dreams not more than once a year. In these reports, shall we 
accept it as a fact that dreams do not occur, or shall we rather 
believe that dreams occur but are forgotten? Do the weak 
nervous impulses traverse the brain centers, or is there a total 
cessation of brain activity? Some indications would seem to 
imply that the dream activities are in progress, but that they 
are forgotten. 

Thus Miss Florence G. states that she never dreams. So 
far as she knows, she has never experienced a dream, such as 
other persons describe to her, but her family report that she 
talks in her sleep. Similarly, Miss Lillian S. states that her 
father has told her that on several occasions he has found her 
in the library at night, with the lights going, reading a book, 
but thoroughly asleep. On such occasions he does not wake 
her up, and she remembers nothing of the circumstances in 
the morning. 

Probably nearly all of our dreams are thus forgotten. 
Only those that are accompanied by the strongest of the ner- 
vous impulses when we are asleep, such as those which occur 
just as we are at the point of waking up, are remembered. 
Those which occur as we are just passing into the conscious 
condition, at the point of waking, are not only accompanied by 
the strongest impulses that occur in sleep, but they are at the 
same time the most recent, and consequently have had the least 
time in which to be forgotten. 

The second characteristic of dreams, in which they differ 
specifically from waking mental experiences, is that they are 
fantastic in character. The dream is fantastic, the parts often 
disjointed, and in consequence of this disjointed character, ap- 
parently illogical. Much of the inaccuracy in reporting dreams 
comes from the attempt of the person so reporting to make a 
connected sequence of the incidents of the dream, when it is 



DREAMS 111 

impossible for him to do so. The dream consists of a series of 
elements between which there is little logical coonnection ap- 
parent. 

The explanation of this fact has been the stumbling block 
in all interpretations of dreams. It seems difficult to propose 
any hypothesis that will account for the apparently contra- 
dictory phenomena that dreams manifest. It appears, however, 
that we may account for all the phenomena by a reference to 
the nervous processes that accompany dreams. In a dream, 
the nervous impulses are not directed by attention, but follow 
the paths of least resistance at any particular moment. What 
these least resistant paths may be at any time is determined oy 
such a large number of infinitesimal determining factors, that 
it is impossible to predict the course of the impulse. 

When we are awake, we may by a process of attention di- 
rect the path of the nervous impulse. We can think of one 
thing and refuse to think of another. The mechanism by which 
this result is accomplished is a matter of conjecture and hypo- 
thesis, but the fact is clearly evident. In our waking thoughts, 
we are not dependent upon the fortuitous circumstances of the 
brain conditions at any particular moment. In our dreams, 
destitute of the attentive processes, we are. 

These fortuitous circumstances may be of two kinds. One 
is peripheral and the other is central. The direction that our 
dreams take is sometimes determined in part by an outside 
stimulus. The example cited above to illustrate the difficulty 
of making an accurate report of a dream, is a good example. 
Another is the following: Miss Florence R. dreamed for two 
nights in succession that the house in which she was sleeping 
was burning. On both occasions she waked up, and found that 
the moon was shining in her eyes. The next night, she closed 
the window shade and no repetition of the dream occurred. 

But the principal factor upon which the fantastic charac- 
ter of our dreams depend is the series of central circumstances. 
The nervous impulse follows the path of least resistance at any 
moment, undirected by attention^ It is this fact that enables 
us to understand the most contradictory phenomena of dreams. 

With these two differences, which are comparatively un- 
important, the mental work in sleep is identical with that of 
the waking hours. When we recognize that the mental pro- 



112 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

cesses in sleep are essentially identical in their nature, with 
those of our waking hours, we shall not be surprised that much 
mental work of a highly important character is done in sleep. 

Miss Lillian S. reports that on one occasion, when her 
mother was away from home, she found on her table in the 
morning, a letter to her mother, in her own handwriting. It 
was a good letter, stating very clearly just the things that 
would most interest her mother, and which her mother would 
most wish to know. It seemed evident that she had arisen in 
the night, and had written the letter without waking up. The 
letter was so satisfactory that she enclosed it in an envelop, 
and mailed it without making any change in it. 

Miss Catherine C. states that when she was a student in 
the high school, she was much troubled over a problem in alge- 
bra. She went to sleep thinking of it, and dreamed exactly 
the steps that must be taken in the solution. As soon as she 
awakened, she placed the solution of her dream on paper, and 
it was correct in every particular. 

In this account we must suppose that in the waking hours, 
when attention was active, she was trying to force the nervous 
impulses over paths that were difficult of access, and which 
were not those which stood in the closest relation to those 
through which the impulses were already passing. But in 
sleep, the nervous impulses found the pathways most easily 
accessible, and the corresponding mental processes represented 
an easy solution. 

The process is quite similar to that by which we try to 
recall a name, or think up an appropriate word. The more 
intense the attention which we give to the attempt to recall 
the name, the less likely the name is to appear. But when we 
cease to attend to the process, and leave our mind blank, as 
nearly as possible, attention held in abeyance, the name or the 
word is more likely to appear. 

The same explanation will very satisfactorily account for 
the instances in which a lost article has been found, or its loca- 
tion disclosed, in a dream. Mrs. Bessie J. says that one time 
when she was a little girl, she had a fifty cent piece which was 
a great treasure to her. She lost it and no amount of search- 
ing would enable her to find it. In the course of several days, 
she dreamed that her coin was in a hat box where she kept a 



DREAMS 113 

new hat that she treasured highly. When she awoke, she went 
to the hat box and there found her coin,. 

As in similar examples, we may easily understand the 
dream result by supposing that the nervous impulse, undirect- 
ed by attention, found its way into the channels most easy of 
access, and traversed nervous arcs that had been traversed on 
the occasion when the coin had been placed in the hat box, but 
which by conscious attention, it was prevented from entering 
in the waking period. 

A somewhat similar example is reported by Mr. Arthur il. 
who relates a dream that occurred to his brother, who is a 
book keeper. He had failed for two weeks to obtain a proper 
trial balance. He was very much concerned over the matter. 
In fact, it worried him greatly, and worry means intense and 
continued negative attention. One night, he dreamed of a voice 
saying to him, "Eighty cents in Sid Fuller's account." He 
awoke, finding himself standing on the floor, looking at the 
wall. He immediately examined Sid Fuller's account, and there 
discovered the error. 

This account seems to verge on the mysterious, but if we 
realize that in sleep the impulse is not directed by attention, 
but follows the path of least resistance, we shall see why in so 
many cases an accurate judgment is rendered from the data 
at hand, which in our waking hours, when we are directing 
the impulse by our attentive processes, it fails to enter upon 
the proper combination for a correct judgment. There is 
nothing mysterious about such cases, except the mystery that 
is involved in the making of any judgment/. 

This fact that attention is lacking in dreams will explain 
for us all the examples in which long forgotten experiences 
are reproduced or remembered. Many experiences are repro- 
duced in sleep without their being recognized as having been 
previously known. There is without any doubt, some truth 
in Freud's assertion that early experiences which are not re- 
membered, give direction to many dreams. 

Possibly the following two cases may be examples of this 
principle. Miss Louise H. reports that she rarely dreams. She 
has experienced only one dream in her life (that she remem- 
bers) but that dream has occurred to her three times; the 
second time after an interval of several months from the first, 



114 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

and the third after a still longer interval of several years, ibhe 
is sure that there is nothing prophetic in the dream, and has 
no knowledge of any circumstance that might have determined 
its direction. The dream is one in which she finds herself 
standing at the top of a high tower, near the foot of which .m 
army is passing, and she is throwing things down upon them. 

Perhaps the second example is to be explained in the same 
way. Miss Ina F. rarely dreams^ She has had an experience 
with only one dream (that she remembers) but that dream 
has been repeated four times at long intervals. The dream is 
one in which she finds herself seated at the top of a high hill 
at the base of which a river is flowing. A big hog comes along 
and roots her off into the river. She struggles in the water, 
and sinks twice, but before she sinks the third time she wakes 
up. 

It is very possible that some long antecedent experience 
occurring too early for her to remember it, has furnished the 
basis for this dream. 

Nearly all dreams are either visual or auditory, but other 
sensations may enter into a dream. Miss Hattie C. reports a 
tactual dream that has been repeated three times in about five 
years. The dream is one in which she feels the touch of her 
father's hand upon her head. Smell sensations sometimes oc- 
cur in dreams, and the present writer has on more than one 
occasion experienced a taste dream. One such dream involved 
a scene in a barber shop. I went to take a drink of water from 
the receptacle provided, and the water tasted stale, flat and un- 
profitable. It tasted about as water tastes after it has stood 
all night in a cedar bucket. Perhaps a long antecedent experi- 
ence with such a situation induced this particular form of the 
dream. The barber called attention to a vessel of fresh drink- 
ing water, but other incidents crowded in, and I did not get a 
taste of the fresh drinking water. 

It is safe to say that any sensation that is, or has been, 
experienced in the waking hours, may enter into a dream. 

One form of intellectual work in dreams is so unexpected 
and so curious that examples of it invariably provoke interest. 
Sometimes a person has a dream of poetry, and Coleridge is 
said to have dreamed the entire poem of Kubla Khan, and after 
awaking, he wrote it out just as he had dreamed it. He said 



DREAMS 115 

that there were thirty or forty lines more of the poem which 
he was never able to reproduce. 

Miss Muriel P. has described to me an experience of dream 
ing poetry, on the very day of its occurrence. Following is 
the account of it in her own language just as she wrote it out: 
"On the evening of July 26, 1914, I was trying to study a hard 
lesson in bacteriology, and was greatly annoyed by the yowling 
of a cat on the side lawn. It seemed impossible for me to con- 
centrate my thoughts on that lesson. Finally, I went to bed 
and for a long time continued to hear that cat. When I awoke 
the following morning, the appended verses were running 
through my mind. I wrote them out immediately, and the 
words and sentences seemed fairly to tumble out. The sixth 
word in the second stanza was the only word about which there 
was any hesitation. 

An accomplished cat with extremely good lungs 

In the side yard paused last night. 

There were squalls and growls, and snarls and howls, 

He started a beautiful fight. 

That accomplished cat was a (pagan) (heathen) at heart, 

For till far in the early hours, 

His war dance went on with accompanying song 

As he dodged the local showers. 

My ink bottle went, can't imagine how,, 
To join the motley array 
Of various things, all given that cat. 
They were found on the lawn next day. 

For hours I dozed and cursed that cat 

In a voice persuasively clear, 

While the murderous thoughts I thought that night 

Make me shudder even here. 

I was not there when he left this sphere; 
Aid, — a brick from the watchman. Oh, 
But I fully expect to meet that cat 
When to future worlds I go. 



116 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

His basilisk eyes will welcome me 

To the warm climate of his land 

The devil himself will appoint me to lead, 

And have the wail of that cat in his band. 

In somewhat a similar manner, Miss Hester P. relates that 
on one occasion, very recently, she had been assigned the task 
of writing a parody on the Lost Chord for a lesson in English. 
She had discovered that it was very difficult for her, and had 
delayed writing it, or had failed to accomplish the task until 
the time for the exercise to be turned in was close at hand. 
She went to sleep thinking about it, and dreamed a whole 
poem, which she wrote out immediately upon waking up. The 
poem consisted of six stanzas, and the character of it may be 
judged from the first stanza: 

Seated one day in the schoolroom, 

I was weary and ill at ease 

And my pencil was tapping nervously 

As it struck my shaking knees. 
Similarly Miss Margaret McG. reports having dreamed a 
poem of four stanzas, which she wrote out immediately upon 
awaking. The quality of it may be judged from the first 
stanza: 

As I was walking down the street 

A little man I met 

Whose face was just the kind of face 

That I would like to pet. 
The absurdities of such poetry do not impress of dreamer. 
There is no feeling of the absurd, ludicrous, nor ridiculous 
when such a dream is being experienced. The dreamer has no 
feeling of surprise nor emotion of any such nature, in the 
dream. Such poetry appears to the dreamer to be of the high- 
est degree of excellence. 

The present writer has had a somewhat similar experience, 
and can testify definitely to the circumstances. On four sepa- 
rate occasions, I have had a dream of poetry, three of them 
limericks, which is about the limit of my poetical ability, but 
in the morning, I have been unable to remember or reproduce 
a single line of it. It appeared to me when I was dreaming it, 
to be remarkably good poetry. It seemed to me in my dream, 



DREAMS 



117 



that the fourth poem was decidedly better than anything that 
Browning or Shelley ever wrote. But on a subsequent occa- 
sion, I had a dream of poetry, and immediately upon waking 
wrote it out without the least hesitation. It was a reproduc- 
tion of what was dreamed, not a composition at the time of 
writing. The excellence of the poetry of the previous dreams 
may be judged by the fact that in the dream, this poetry ap- 
peared to be a masterpiece. It appeared to be quite the equal 
of Tennyson's Crannied Wall, or Browning's God's in His 
Heaven. 

When the winter is sped, 

And the trees are dead, 

A voice comes cold and gray; 

Go scan your van 

And trap your man 

And don't let him get away. 
There was a slight uncertainty about the fourth line which 
disappeared as soon as I recognized the occasion for it. In my 
waking experience I was trying to make the thing have some 
sense to it, to make it represent some logical connection, while 
in the dream there was none, and the lack of logical reason in 
the dream did not make itself felt. 

In dreaming, the lack of anything approximating logical 
connection is not felt, and occasions no discomfort nor surprise. 
This same fact will also account for the exaggerated estimate 
of the excellence of the poetical effusions composed in a dream. 
It might be described by saying that the critical sense is al- 
together lacking in a dream, but this is not only a crude, but 
an inaccurate method of describing the condition. 

It is this lack of logical connection in our dream and our 
attempts to make the connection logical in our waking reports 
that is the occasion for so much inaccuracy in accounts of 
dreams. A dream is generally a series of incidents, slightly 
related to each other, with only a slender thread of connection, 
very easily forgotten. We try to make the dream connected, 
and thereby introduce into the account, elements that really 
did not appear. 

It is a curious fact that this lack of logical connection, 
which awakens no surprise in the dreamer, is taken by many 
persons to indicate a supernatural origin for dreams, and io 



118 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

show that the dreams are engendered by higher processes of 
reason than the person is able to manifest in his ordinary 
waking hours. The real explanation is one that is far removed 
from this. 

As a result of the small amount of nervous energy in 
sleep, there is a small amount of feeling experienced. The lack 
of surprise, or other feeling attending the perception of the 
dream absurdities, which we have already noticed, is equally 
manifest in all dream experiences. Even in those dreams 
which we believe to be attended by a great deal of feeling, we 
shall be compelled to recognize that the feeling is a good deal 
less than it would be in our waking condition, if we were to be 
placed in the same situation in which we find ourselves in our 
dream experience. We think that if we can go to sleep, our 
pains and worries will disappear. As a matter of fact, our 
pains and worries must disappear before we go to sleep, or 
they disappear as we go to sleep. The decrease of the amount 
of nervous energy liberated is an essential condition, both of 
the sleep and of the decrease of feeling. 

Notwithstanding the very common belief in the prophetic 
character of dreams, an examination of every so-called verid- 
ical dream, in which a prophetic anticipation has been followed 
by its verification, will be found lacking in accuracy of report, 
omission of some important circumstance, lack of connection 
between the dream and the event that is described as its veri- 
fication, or accounted for by mere coincidence. In a few cases, 
the approach of oncoming disease has been foreshadowed in a 
dream before it was apparent in the waking experience. This 
arises from the lack of direction of the nervous impulse by at- 
tention, the impulse taking the path of least resistance, which 
in our waking hours it might not do. As a result of this course 
of the impulse, diseased organs or diseased centers may have 
been detected. 

Let us then repeat, that the mental processes in sleep are 
of exactly the same kind as are the mental processes when 
awake, The differences that are noticed arise from two char- 
acteristics, first, they are less vivid, in consequence of the di- 
minished amount of nervous energy in sleep, and second, the 
nervous impulses are not directed by attention. Practically 
every difference between a dream and a waking experience 



DREAMS 119 

will find its explanation in one or the other of these two char- 
acteristics. There is no occasion for the introduction into the 
discussion of dreams, of such conceptions as an unconscious 
mind, a subliminal self, an objective or a subjective mind, a 
psychic censor, nor any other of the mystical creations that 
are so highly favored by many persons. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Freud, Sigmund — Interpretation of Dreams. Transla- 
tion by Brill. 

2. Manaceine, Marie de — Sleep; Its Psychology, Pathology, 
Hygiene, and Physiology. P. 315-326. The Significance of 
Dreaming. 

3. Child, C. M. — Unconscious Cerebration. American 
Journal of Psychology, volume 5, p. 249. Gives many examples 
of mental work in sleep. 



CHAPTER XIII 

TURNED AROUND; OR ILLUSIONS OF ORIENTATION 

It is a very uncomfortable situation when a person's con- 
sciousness and compass do not agree. When he has a feeling: 
that a certain direction is east, and the compass says it is 
north, the disagreement is anything but pleasant. It is a phe- 
nomenon that is difficult to explain, but it is no uncommon ex- 
perience with many persons. The accounts of the experiences 
that have been collected from several persons are very instruc- 
tive. 

The experience of Miss Grace E. is one of the most common 
type. When Miss E. is in Battle Creek, she knows that the di- 
rection which seems to her to be north is really east, and that 
the sun will rise in that place. The same condition exists in 
Kalamazoo. It is always and invariably a shifting of the 
cardinal points ninety degrees to the left. 

In much the larger number of cases, the shifting of direc- 
tions amounts to exactly ninety degrees, although in some in- 
stances the shifting is through 180 degrees:. It is almost in- 
variably one or the other of these two amounts. Possibly this 
may be accounted for by the fact that according to our system 
of noting directions, there are only four cardinal points. If we 
habitually employed a system of six cardinal points, we might 
find that the shifting would be generally, through GO, 120 or 
180 degrees. 

Different places may show different degrees of shifting fcr 
the same person. A person may be turned around 90 degrees 
in one place, and 180 degrees in another; but it is rarely that 
the shifting is for any different number of degrees than 90 
or 180. 

In nearly all cases the amount and direction of the shifting 
is constant for any one locality. It is rare to meet with a 
variation in the shifting for any person in the same place. 
However, the case of Miss Alice F^ is one which shows this 
variable shifting. Miss F. lives several miles from the nearest 
town, and has occasion to go from her home farm to town sev- 
eral times a week. She always goes over the same road. Some- 
times it seems to her that she is going west when she goes to 
town, and at other times it appears that she is going south. 



TURNED AROUND 121 

There is no uniformity in the experience. The direction that 
she really is going when she is on her road to town is east. 

Generally, the directions are learned primarily for one 
place, and this system of direction is transferred subsequently 
to other places. If the systems of the two places agree, there 
is experienced the feeling of harmony, or of being straight. 
But if the system of directions in the second place fails to 
agree in consciousness, then there is a feeling of strangeness. 
It is the lack of agreement which seems to give rise to the un- 
comfortable feeling. It is this fact which constitutes the ex- 
ceptional character of the experience of Miss Geneva S. 

Miss S. has an experience with direction that is very an- 
noying to her. She is permanently turned around. At home, 
or in any other place to which she may go, north is always 
south, and east seems always west. She has never been in any 
place in which this annoying contradiction did not occur. She 
attributes it to the fact that as a child, she learned the direc- 
tions in school, from a map that was hung on the south side of 
the room. She expresses her opinion that a teacher who teach- 
es children from a map hung on the south side of a room, ought 
to be hung up on the north side herself. 

The present writer has had many experiences with being 
turned around, and has studied his own experiences with a 
great deal of care. Two examples, noted carefully at the time 
they occurred, are very instructive. As a preliminary, it may 
he stated that the writer lived for four years in one place 
where east always seemed north. Coming back to that place 
after a return to his early surroundings, the directions would 
be all straight until he stepped off the train, when suddenly it 
seemed that the entire universe would swing through an angle 
of 90 degrees. In another place, he lived six years where ex- 
actly the same condition prevailed. So long did this system of 
directions persist in this period, that, while the strangeness 
was never overcome, the directions in the locality of his early 
home, where the directions had been originally learned, began 
to feel equally strange. In another place, he lived more than 
a year, where as in the other two, the s;m rose directly in the 
north every morning. 

The first of the incidents referred to above, may be de- 
scribed as follows: I was going from Chicago to Mattoon over 



122 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

the line of the Illinois Central railroad, the general direction of 
which is straight south. As the train approached Champaign, 
one of the towns where, according to my experience the sun 
rises in the north, I began to wonder if the directions would 
change, or would it be different from what it was when I was 
a resident of that place. With note book and watch in hand I 
waited for anything that might happen. As the train drew 
into the station and came to a halt, there was a period of ten 
seconds, or such a matter, when it seemed as if the situation 
hung in the balance. It was uncertain which direction would 
prevail. Finally, the former direction prevailed, and the uni- 
verse swung 90 degrees around, and the train was headed east. 
Careful note was then made to see if the reverse change would 
be made when we had passed the town. The train appeared 
to be going east for a distance of about two miles, when sud- 
denly, without any hesitation, the directions changed again and 
we were going south. A mental map was then drawn in the 
notebook to show the direction of the train. It could be pic- 
tured as making two turns, one to the east, and another about 
two miles farther along to the south. 

Another experience will perhaps assist to an understand- 
ing of the psychological conditions that enable one to determine 
directions. One time the writer spent one week in New York, 
where for him, the same system of directions prevails that ex- 
ists at Champaign. The sun rises in the north. Leaving New 
York in the early morning, Buffalo was reached over the Lack- 
awanna line late in the afternoon. Buffalo was somewhat fa- 
miliar from previous visits, and the directions in that town are 
straight. Consciousness and the compass agree. But the Lack- 
awanna depot was an unfamiliar locality, never having travel- 
ed to Buffalo over that route before. Starting north, or what 
seemed to be north, to reach the main streets of the town, the 
writer found himself getting into a part of the city that looked 
as if it was not likely to lead to the intersection of Main and 
Seneca Streets. Then arose the question Why? Which way did 
it lead, and why did this direction that seemed to be north, not 
take us up toward the streets from which the desired inter- 
section could be reached, Could it be that the New York sys- 
tem of directions was still prevailing? If so, I was going east 
instead of north. A trip back to the Lackawanna depot, and a 



TURNED AROUND 123 

new start in the direction that seemed to be west, but which 
must be north, if the New York directions still prevailed, soon 
demonstrated the truth of the hypothesis. In a short distance, 
the directions changed, and the direction that had seemed to be 
west, now appeared to be north. 

This experience will enable us to suggest a hypothesis to 
explain the turning around. To some persons, and the writer 
is one, a system of directions constitutes an invariable back- 
ground for any experience in space. The perception of di- 
rections, with the transmission of an impulse through the brain 
centers that correspond to the perception of the directions, is 
an invariable accompaniment for any such experience. But 
in a new place, where the actual directions, as would be indi- 
cated by a compass, are unknown, a new background of direc- 
tions is built up, and if there is a misjudgment of the direc- 
tions on which the background is built, we subsequently find 
ourselves turned around. When such a background is built up 
on a wrong foundation, it is very difficult subsequently to re- 
place it by one built on a correct foundation. The false di- 
rections are likely to persist. 

The example of Miss Elizabeth M> is a very clear case of 
the persistence of the false directions after years of repeated 
experience in shifting from one set of directions to the other. 
Miss M. lives several miles out of Jackson, and she attended 
school in that city. Whenever she goes from her home to Jack- 
son, the directions are perfectly correct until she arrives at a 
certain corner in the town, when they appear to change. No 
amount of reasoning, or observation can produce any other 
effect. 

The persistence of the false system of directions is pro- 
nounced in nearly every case. However, after a prolonged ab- 
sence from one locality, especially if the original stay has been 
brief, it is possible that a different system of directions may be 
substituted for the false system that was first acquired. With 
the present writer, such a change has occurred in a few places, 
noticeably so in Philadelphia. On a first visit to that city, the 
directions were wrong, and the sun rose in the north. After 
an interval of two years, the directions were recognized on a 
second visit as correct. But in places where the stay was pro- 
longed, as at Champaign, the background built up on the basis 



124 IMAGINARY PLAYMATES 

of the correct directions, is never likely to be substituted for 
the illusory one. 

Whether the directions appear correct or not, will depend 
upon the background of directions upon which the locality is 
perceived. This background evidently has for its concomitant, 
some particular combination of cells, in the brain which is 
slightly different for each series of directions. So a substitu- 
tion of one background for another is accompanied by a slight 
shifting of the nervous impulse from one combination of cells 
into another only slightly different. 

An inquiry of one class of 63 students disclosed the fact 
that more than two-thirds of them did not have any back- 
ground of direction for their perceptions, and did not feel the 
need of any. Forty-four of them asserted that it made no dif- 
ference to them whether they knew which way was north or 
not. Such persons can never experience the feeling of being 
turned around, which makes some of us so uncomfortable. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. Binet, Alfred — Reverse Illusions of Orientation. Psy- 
chological Review, volume 1, p. 337. The classical article. Prac- 
tically the only original contribution of much value. Gives ac- 
counts of nine persons who have had the experiences, together 
with his own. Suggests that perhaps it is caused by an affec- 
tion of the semicircular canals. 

2. Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology. 
Volume 2, p. 242. Article Orientation. 

Gives merely a definition of the state,, and refers to Binet's 
article for references. Says the turning is nearly always ex- 
actly 180 degrees, or 90 degrees. 



Index of Cases Cited 



Alice B. 14 

Alice F. 120 

Alta M. 76 

Anna Y. 13 

Arthur H. 113 

Arthur M. 101 

Avis R. 35, 36 

Bertha L. 17, 18, 23 

Bertha S. 49, 60 

Bessie C. 8 

Bessie J. 112 

Bessie R. 12, 16 

Bessie S. 11 

Blanche B. 13 

Blanche C. 73 

Blanche T. 18, 102 

Carrie G. 52, 56 

Catherine C. 112 

Christine M. 9 

Clare 0. 45, 82 

Clarissa F. 36 

Dessie I. 72 

Dorothy D. 72 

Edith B. 31 

Edith W. 82 

Edna P. 41 

Edna S. 81 

Elizabeth M. 123 

Elsie F. 17 

Emily B. 80 

Ethelyn W. 76 

Ethel G. 49, 61 

Ethel K. 46 

Etta G. 61 

Eva K. 30, 31 

Eva R. 20 

Evelyn B. 38 

Faye P. 10, 43, 75 

Florence G. 110 

Florence J. 60 

Florence K. 111 

Florence S. 61 

Floyd E. 81 

Frances B. 12 

Frances H. 81 

Fred F. 57, 61, 66, 70 

Geneva S. 82, 121 

Genevieve H. 94 

Genevra W. __ 28, 58, 61, 64, 70 

Georgia F. 58 

Gertrude P. 46 

Gladys M. 110 

Glenn H. 101 



Grace E. 120 

Grace L. 36 

Grace M. 16 

Harry H. 102 

Hattie C. 114 

Hattie M. 57 

Hazel G. 14 

Hazel S. 43 

Henry S. 88 

Helen H. 37 

Hester P. 91, 116 

Hetta F. 65, 67 

Ida F. 57, 64 

Ida P. 75 

Ina F. 114 

Irene S. 38, 57, 70 

Ivol S. 86 

Jean S. 32 

J. J. J. 80 

Julia S. 19 

Katherine D. 44 

Kathryn McL. 14 

Laura McN. 44 

Leona H. 64, 73 

Lida C. 13, 19 

Lillian S. 110, 112 

Lillian W. 58 

Lillie C. 80 

Lottie G. 11 

Lloyd G. 37 

Loretta B. 30 

Lucile A. 58 

Lucile B. 9 

Louise H. 113 

Lulu M. 45, 87 

Lurah M. 10, 18, 23 

Mabel B. 16, 19, 42, 46 

Mabel P. 70 

Margaret M. 29 

Margaret McG. 65, 116 

Marguerite H. 11 

Marguerite S. 38, 53, 66 

Marian B. :___ 61 

Marian C. 15 

Marian H. 90 

Marie McC. 81 

Marjorie S. 61, 90, 95 

Marjorie V. __ 52, 61, 64, 66, 70 

Marjorie W. 75 

Martha M. 55, 58 

Mary A. 30, 32 

Mary P. 75 

Mary S. 83 



Maude R. 60, 65 

Mira F. 60 

Mira M. 81 

Mildred A. 104 

Mildred M. 30, 110 

Nathan H. __ 109, 114, 117, 121 

Olga M. 80 

Orla G. 22, 96 

Pearl B. 12 

Pearl Y. 12 

Phebe C. 42 

Phyllis S. 10, 15, 19 

Ralph E. 35 

Robert T. 37, 53 

Rollin R. 9, 19 



Ruby C. 7, 56 

Ruth R. 58 

Ruth W. 13, 21 

Sadie M. 82 

Sarah R. 89 

Tacy A. 81 

Teresa K. 80 

Tidy P. 65 

Tina H. 110 

Vaida B. 16 

Wilma G. 11, 21 

Winifred B. 16 

Zaida C. 92 

Zilpha P. 101, 104 



Index of Authors 



Alexander, H. B. 33 

Binet, Alfred 124 

Brittain, H. L. 24 

Buchner, E. F. 59 

Burnham, W. H. 24, 33, 106 

Calkins, M. W. 79 

Canton, William 24 

Chalmers, Lillian H. 59 

Child, C. M. 119 

Colvin, S. S 33 

*Conradi, Edward 91 

Cooley, C. H. 24 

Cutten, George B. 99 

Dana, C. L. 99 

Day, Leroy C. 84 

Downey, June 33, 84 

Freud, Sigmund 119 

Galton, Francis 33, 59, 79 

Gillette, J. M. — 33 



Hale, Horatio 91 

James, William 47, 99 

Jordan, David Starr 79 

Krohn, W. O. 79 

Lalande, A. 106 

Manaceine, Marie de 119 

Martin, L. J. 24 

Munroe, James P. 24 

Parish, Edmund 48 

Patrick, G. T. W. 59 

Phillips, D. E. 59 

Pierce, A. H. 84 

Ribot, Theodule 99 

Rose, K. B. 84 

Sidis, Boris 48 

Stratton, George M. 59 

Tracy, F. 91 

Whipple, G. M. 84 

Whiting, Margaret C. 84 



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